welcome to the abyss
I am a total Arnie fan and I consider this film to be a part of his Holy Trinity of movies; Terminator and Predator being the other two. I stumbled upon this book by accident today and instantly was excited because it consists of interviews and behind the scenes photos and stories of how this epic movie was made. It comes out on August the 8th.
Judgment At Nuremberg is a fictionalized account of the war crime trials that took place in 1947 against some Nazi judges; ones that ordered people sterilized, sent to the death camps or immediately executed. It may be a work of fiction but all of the crimes described and shown in the film did indeed take place. For these reasons and more I really consider this film to be one of the best made about the atrocities that happened during WWII.
After WWII a lot of German civilians claimed that they didn’t know about the extermination camps and the other atrocities that took place, but that has been proven to be false by modern historians. That is one of the reasons why this film is so damn important; it shows what some Germans actually knew and calls them out on it. Also, the fact that it wasn’t filmed in colour gives it more gravitas. Steven Spielberg used the same technique in Schindler’s List so I wouldn’t be surprised if he got that idea from this film.
There are so many great actors and actresses in this movie: Spencer Tracy, Judy Garland, Marlena Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Montgomery Cliff, Burt Lancaster, and Richard Widmark. Everybody in this film is excellent and I can’t imagine how emotional it had to be to make this film. I always get teary during the scene in which Judy Garland’s character testifies against one of the judges, it is perhaps her best ever performance. This is a very emotional watch, but it is worth the tears.
I feel that this would be an excellent film to show teens, and adults, about the trauma that WWII brought forth. With the rise of neo-Nazi type crap happening yet again in Europe it is very important for them to know what occurs when you let monsters lead nations and don’t do anything to try to stop it.
For those of you who don’t know the film Outland was made in 1981 starring Sean Connery. It is a thriller set in a mining colony on Jupiter’s moon Io in which Connery is a federal marshal investigating a series of gruesome deaths. It has been largely forgotten for years, so when I learned that a local film group was screening it I got very excited since I had never seen it in an actual theatre before.
What is so great about this film? The social commentary. In fact I would say that this film was way ahead of its time, and that is probably the main reason why it has been largely forgotten. Back in the 80’s people under the thrall of Reagan and Thatcher thought that corporations could do no wrong, that they were trusted to do what was right because why would a corporation want to hurt people? Leap forward 40 years and a lot of people now realize that corporations don’t give a crap about them; it’s all a profit driven con to separate people from their money no matter the true cost of that profit.
I honestly think this is Sean Connery’s best role because he is playing an actual man, not some sort of spy superhero. The character has to figure out what they want and need to do to take care of the situation at hand and he really emotes that struggle in such a way that makes you care about him, whether you agree with his actions or not.
Another thing that makes this film special is the fact that a lot of the crew who worked on it also had a hand in making Alien. Because of that it has the same kind of feel; a dirty dystopian future in which people have to work in dangerous situations in order to survive. The future isn’t perfect, rather it is imperfect just like now.
I very highly recommend watching this. If you like dystopian, sci-fi or 80’s thriller films this movie will be right up your alley!
If you haven’t guessed it yet I am a huge sci-fi, horror, and action film lover. The Chronicles Of Riddick can be a very polarizing kind of film but I think it has been slowly turning into a cult classic as the years go by. The Necromongers are very stylized and leave no doubt as to what side of the equation they are on; evil world conquerors.
I have no shame as a Necromonger fangirl. My husband an I went to London one time and visited this little film museum near the London Eye. In it were some props from the film, including a whole suit of Necromonger armour. I felt like I had found my people! They were planet destroyers and evil, but they looked very good while doing it. Something I could get behind.
So, because of all of the above, I have decided that Lord Vakko’s hairstyle is going to be my hair goal. I have both sides of my hair shaved and have let the back grow out. I would say that it is going to take me six months to a year for the back of my hair to get long enough to do the braids. I have braided my hair myself in the past so that is not a barrier. I just have to be patient.
The world is seriously fucked right now but at least I will look good while watching it all burn. You have to think positively sometimes.
I finally took the plunge and bought a rotary tool to use in my DIY projects. I am so excited about this because I can now cut, etch, drill and sand to my heart’s content. It isn’t something that I will use every single day, but it will come in very handy and it will let me expand some projects which is cool.
I bought some nuclear symbol green plastic cookie cutters in a few different sizes last year, because I knew that they would look cool hanging from belts, bags and jackets. I just didn’t have the tools to do it. I could hang them as is but it really wouldn’t move freely and it would look awkward. Well, today I cut into the lip and then I made a hole underneath it.
I put some purple jewellery wire through the hole I made, wrapped the ends around a swivel clip, and then attached that clip to my new bag. Remember, never be afraid of colours. You use what you can find in the wasteland. I am very happy with how it looks and I look forward to coming up with other ideas.
This is a public service announcement made by the US government in 1952, geared towards children. Remember, if there is a nuclear explosion you should duck and cover!
After many months I can finally say that the back of this jacket is done!Will I ever add anything to it? Probably, but I am happy with it right now.
This jacket is originally from the clearance section of Killstar. I actually went around my town seeing what kind of denim jackets were on sale. All of them were more expensive than this one so I went for it. It came with the grommet lacing on the sleeves and with the ripped hole in the back. Everything else on the back I did myself.
Notice how I hung the chain from two safety pins on a seam. I was originally going to hang it from the bottom, but that top seam is very thick and can hold the weight way better. I also put a few safety pins on the bottom and hung some keychains from them. I got the patches and studs from Etsy. The most difficult thing for me was sewing the arm patches onto the upper sleeves, and placing small green and yellow pyramid studs below them.
The cool thing about this jacket is that if something falls off that’s okay because it is not meant to be perfect. For example, one of the upper safety pins I used on the Obey patch has come off and I am not worried about it. It’ll get replaced when I replace it. I used mainly green and yellow accents for this jacket because it goes well with the patches.
I hope this has inspired you to create some DIY projects of your own because it’s a lot of fun and in the end you get to wear something that is distinctly yours.
EDIT: Just noticed that I actually wrote about this film earlier so I guess this would be a part 2? That must mean I really like it.LOL
Before I get started talking about this film I want to let my new readers know that I don’t do strict film reviews. I like to talk about the social ramifications of films, what they can teach us and how they fit into our current dystopian hellscape. There will be SPOILERS.
I am a John Carpenter fangirl who loves his films and his music. With that being said this is my all time favourite film of his, because I feel like it actually ‘gets’ me. It takes a very sharp look at capitalistic consumer culture and what it does to a society who lets it take control of their lives.
This is not a very complex film, in either message or tone. A group of people living in poverty learns that the world around them is being controlled by Aliens who, through the use of subliminal messaging, bombard them with words such as obey, sleep and reproduce. When you think about it it’s an ingenious way for an alien species to invade Earth. Instead of having a military battle, in which many lives would be lost, they slowly tighten their grip upon society until people are so brainwashed they they really don’t care what is going on. If they can buy their new car, pop out a baby, and stuff themselves with food then everything is fine.
I was a teenager in the 80’s when this film came out and to say that the 80’s was a decade of conspicuous consumption is an understatement. If you were poor in any part of that decade you were made to feel like you were totally crap for not having the nice shiny things that everybody else had. Yes, this has happened throughout history, however it really peaked during that decade. I remember once wanting a pegged legged type of jeans and the only pair I could find were by Guess. As soon as I got home I ripped the label on the back pocket off. When I wore them to school people were asking me why I ripped the label off. No joke, people were befuddled as to why I didn’t want to wear clothes with blatant labels. I didn’t want to be in the part of society that worshipped brand names like they were gods.
The downtrodden rebel group in the film start making sunglasses that allow people to see what is really going on around them. When worn you not only can see the subluminal messages, you can also see what the aliens really look like. The aliens have disguises that allow them to look human and they are everywhere; bank tellers, politicians, policemen,etc… They have infiltrated into every facet of life in a capitalistic consumerist based society, and their presence assures that things will stay exactly the same. People in the society are so conditioned not to question authority that when offered the sunglasses they will fight to the death rather than accept the chance to see what is really going on.
The themes in this film still hold true today. A whole segment of society will believe whatever they are told without question, and if somebody has a worse life than them it’s their own fault for not pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. Since these people don’t have the money to buy nice shiny things then they should be forgotten. In this film people actually sell out and turn on their fellow humans because the aliens promise to make them wealthy for doing so. Gaining wealth is so important in that society, and in this one, that people will do anything to achieve it.
The 80’s was a very wealth obsessed decade, but with the advent of the internet new ways to perpetuate this line of thinking have come to fruition. ‘Influencers’ on social media perpetuate all of this. They basically want to be famous for not having any sort of talent, other than getting others to buy the products that they are promoting. They are capitalist consumer conmen. They promote products to their wide eyed audience as if they too can be an influencer someday if they also buy the product. Aspiring to be an influencer is seen as an actual career path by some of these people. Why go to school when you can get cash and free shiny things while having no discernable talent? Remember folks, acquiring shiny things makes you a vital part of society and better than those who don’t have them. The aliens in this film would be very happy about this state of affairs.
John Carpenter has stated that he made They Live as a statement against Reaganomics. He saw the American middle class being harmed by economic policies that only helped the wealthy and felt that he had to say something against that. What he ended up making is now considered to be a cult classic, a film that is as relevant today as it was over thirty years ago.
I would like to start this out by saying that I do not think that Disney World should be open right now. However, from what I have seen online, they are very strictly enforcing their mask mandate and are throwing people out of the park for taking them off. I’ve seen footage of this happening. They have been crowding the Florida parks too much though and that does piss me off. Disneyland Paris has been closed for months and won’t reopen till April or later, and I applaud this. It’s because the leadership in France isn’t as stupid as the governor of Florida. Has the French government done dumb shit? Of course, but in this case they are doing the correct thing and I applaud them for that.
Late next year I am planning a trip to Disneyland Paris for my husband and I. I am turning 50 next month, but since the park is closed I cannot go there for my birthday. This has me sad and pissed off at the same time. Sad because my 50th birthday is going to suck, and pissed off because a bunch of idiots can’t handle wearing a mask or socially distancing themselves from others. Now we are more than likely going to go in October of next year, since most people will be vaccinated by then and Halloween is our favourite holiday. I know that some of you think that Disney sucks, and I do take issue with some of the things they have done over the years. However, I haven’t been to a Disney park since the early 80’s and this has been kind of a dream of mine. Plus, I have MS and I want to go soon because I might not be able to walk in a few years.
With all of that being said I have been watching various Disney themed YouTube channels because I want to be full of excitement and knowledge by the time we visit the park. I have come to discover that there are many content creators on there that actively hate Disney so much that they make video after video of anti-Disney material. Most, but not all, of the time this is tied to the Star Wars franchise. I have absolutely nothing against people criticizing Disney, but many of their loudest critics also spout alt-right talking points. The fact that Disney is trying to become more inclusive really pisses them off.
Why would people be pissed off about a company actively trying to be more inclusive you may be asking. Could it be because they are stuck back in the 1950’s and don’t want the world to change? Are they bitter because Disney took away their press credentials so that they aren’t privy to new Disney news any longer? Do they hold Star Wars to a certain ideal and are permanently pissed off that Disney hasn’t achieved their level of perfection? Do they think that social justice warriors are evil and have ruined both Disney and Star Wars? The channels in question usually fall into one of these categories, but in truly special cases they fall into several of them.
A common thing that the anti-Mickey Mouse Club shouts over and over again is that Disney is failing and that they can’t wait for it to happen. Disney is cutting the racist crow scene out of Dumbo? ‘They are losing all of their supporters over this and are going down!’. Disney actively casts more women in their Star Wars films? ‘Disney is filled with swjs bringing the company down!’. Disney hired Krystina Arielle for The High Republic Show, a web series all about Star Wars: The New Republic? ‘Disney is going down because they hired a black woman who is racist against white people!’.
Yes, you read the last entry correctly. I listened to one YouTube channel in particular that went on and on about how Krystina was racist against white people because of some of the things she posted during the height of the BLM protests. Want to know what she posted? Here you go:
And I was in such a good mood. White People: You do not get to absolve people of racism. You do not get to point out their “Growth” when they say black lives matter after treating us as if we don’t. You don’t get to accept apologies on our behalf. That shouldn’t need to be said
I am assuming that all of you reading this are aware of what the term ‘racist’ means. If you don’t here you go:
the systemic oppression of a racial group to the social, economic, and political advantage of another
How the hell is she being racist towards white people? The reason why these idiots are accusing her of racism is because they are projecting their own insecurities onto her. In other words the people in question are themselves racist. They are pissed off that a black woman got hired to host the show. They think that Disney has been taken over by sjws, and that their attempt at inclusion is to the detriment of white fans of both Star Wars and Disney. Also, they deem anybody who disagrees with them to be a paid Disney shills. Seriously. I wonder when my check is going to arrive?
Notice how I am not naming the guilty offenders of all of this? If you take a leisurely stroll over to YouTube it doesn’t take a very long time to find these channels. I refuse to name them because that is exactly what they want. They are like spoiled brats who think that all attention is good, even when it is negative in nature.
Please don’t think that all people who are into Disney and Star Wars are like this, because they are not. There are many fans out there who may dislike some aspects of Disney and Star Wars but they are not being racist and sexist bitches about it. I think constructive criticism is an awesome thing, and when done brilliantly companies do seriously listen. What Disney is not going to do is listen to are anti-sjw tirades that bring nothing to the table besides hate, jealousy and anger. If I can see through that crap then you can bet that Disney can as well.
Despite all of this I still love Star Wars and want to go to Disneyland Paris. I’m not going to let a bunch of racist narcissists spoil my fun!
EDIT: As I finish this article a negative YouTube channel that I have mentioned is now bitching about Disney wanting to deplatform them and other channels like them. I don’t know…maybe this could be the case because these channels have been constantly using alt-right talking points and have been openly racist and hateful towards people involved with Disney and Star Wars? Hmmmmm……………..
This is definitely one of the films that shaped me into the post-apocalyptic loving weirdo that I am today. I am going to assume that everybody who is reading this has seen this film already, especially since it’s approaching its 40th anniversary fairly soon. If you haven’t seen it in a while it’s up on Prime for free. Since we are in the midst of living in a dystopian hellscape I find this film to be rather comforting. Yeah, the world really sucks at the moment but at least we don’t have marauding cyborgs hunting us down to extinction. Sometimes you have to look on the bright side of things.
There is one huge question that this film poses. Would you really want to live through a nuclear war? Machines hunting you down is bad enough but having to live in absolute squalor while being dosed with fatal levels of radiation really brings the reality that this film creates to a whole new level of misery. The aftermath of a nuclear war that this film depicts is in no way sanitized or glorified. It looks depressing, because more than likely you would be scavenging for food and dressed in rags. Personally, I would only want to live in that timeline if I was located far away from a major population centre.
This was made near the end of the Cold War, a time in which nuclear annihilation was a real possibility. Back in 1984 the truly sci-fi aspect of the film was the depiction of cyborgs and drones going around hunting people. The really scary thing to me is that we now live in a world in which drones fly around dropping bombs. Drones controlled by humans who are thousands of miles away from where the action is taking place. These machines look a whole lot like the ones depicted in the film, which freaks me the hell out sometimes. Recently there has been news that the British MOD have created a drone that is equipped with dual shotguns that uses AI to assess targets in dangerous situations. Who the fuck thought that this was a great idea? People who have obviously never seen this film.
Would humans from around the world really band together to try to save all of humankind? The current pandemic has taught us that there are governments out there who just really don’t give a shit about their own citizens let alone people located in different countries. If there was a threat of a nuclear war the heads of such governments will bunker down and leave all the survivors to fend for themselves. I think our current situation has proved that when it comes down to it you have to prepare for emergencies because the government won’t be willing or even able to help you when the time comes. Be a Sarah Connor.
One of my favourite scenes in the film is the entire police station sequence, because it really shows how arrogant the police can be. The police think they are at the top of the food chain and that they can easily defeat anything thrown their way. Then a T-800 series of Terminator enters the picture and slaughters pretty much the entire station. If the film were to be re-released right now that scene would probably get a standing ovation. When the film was made it was still widely believed, by white Americans in particular, that the police were the good guys. These days it has been shown again and again that they are anything but the good guys, so it is only natural to cheer for the T-800.
Some people may find this film a little dated but I think it is actually timely when it comes to the crap we are living through right now. Always keep an eye on the news so that you aren’t totally surprised when something horrible happens. In other words always be aware of your surroundings, whether it’s your neighbourhood or the country that you live in. The rise of the machines in the film took people by surprise and that is why Skynet had such an easy time annihilating humans. Our current pandemic took a lot of people by surprise because they weren’t paying attention to the reports coming out of China. Reports that were fairly easy to find online. I, and a lot of others, knew about the virus even before our governments made official announcements about it.
As you can tell I am a huge fangirl of this film and for me it really stands the test of time because, as I have shown, its theming can easily apply to the times we are living through right now. If you have somehow never seen this film do yourself a favour and watch it because it is definitely one of the best post-apocalyptic themed films ever made.
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