People Before Profit blog

Tribeca Film Festival features new progressive movies

Wed, 01 May 2013 14:36:00 +0000

NEW YORK - Now in its 12th year, the Tribeca Film Festival in lower Manhattan has grown to world prominence and offers a wide array of international cinema and world premieres, with several titles of interest to progressive viewers. This year's just completed festival offered several great documentaries focusing on the African American experience, including a loving and informative study of the life of athlete extraordinaire Muhammad Ali (The Trials of Muhammad Ali) , Whoopie Goldberg's tribute to the pioneer comedian Moms Mabley (I Got Somethin' to Tell You), an in-depth study of famed self-destructive comedian Richard Pryor (Richard Pryor, Omit the Logic), and an electrifying reminder of the 1985 attack on the African American MOVE organization in Philadelphia (Let the Fire Burn).

Other documentaries focused on greed and the excesses of Wall Street, with an investigative study of billionaire criminal Bernie Madoff (In God We Trust) and Texas oil barons finding ways to make super-profits from the natural oil reserves of Ghana and Nigeria (Big Men). Activists were honored in Alias Ruby Blade: A Story of Love and Revolution, about the struggle for democracy in East Timor; Gasland Part II, carrying on the struggle against fracking; and Powerless, with an electrical Robin Hood supplying power to the poor of India.

Politics and the U.S. economy were addressed in a beautifully filmed tribute to Gore Vidal's writings and activism (Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia), and Bill Clinton's secretary of labor, Robert Reich, presented his theories on the failings of the American economy in the well-financed Inequality for All.

Awards were given this year to The Kill Team, a penetrating examination of the U.S. soldiers arrested for killing civilians in Afghanistan; Bridegroom, a moving testimony of love and a powerful statement for same-sex marriage; and Let the Fire Burn, mentioned above.

A couple of great films still running the festival circuit before theatrical release (and reviewed previously in People's World) were Patience Stone, a stunning poetic essay addressing the plight of Muslim women, and How to Make Money Selling Drugs, one of the most creative films exposing the failed "war on drugs." A special panel discussion of this film brought together its filmmakers, experts in the field, and some of the subjects from the film, who addressed serious concerns about the growing prison population being held in privatized facilities. All statistics show that drug use, drug crimes and gun violence have increased, and race plays a major role in filling jails, statistics that are supported by Michelle Alexander's seminal book, "The New Jim Crow." Neill Franklin, a former undercover narcotics agent responsible for sending many young men to prison, had a change of heart and appears in the film to explain the mistakes of the program. He's now executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and has a very informative website that explains the importance of not decriminalizing but rather legalizing certain drugs to eliminate violent drug cartels and street dealers.

The 12-day Tribeca Film Festival is just part of an amazing array of seemingly endless film festivals in New York. The Havana Film Festival recently started a New York version held every April, the venerable New York Film Festival is now in its 51st year, and the 7th annual Other Israel Film Festival takes place this coming November.

Photo: Tribeca Facebook page

Jerry Lewis is alive, well, and performing

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:55:00 +0000

Some larger than life names immediately conjure up memories of simpler times and pop culture in the 20^th century. Jerry Lewis was one of America's most popular entertainers in every decade since World War II. Very few iconic performers from that era still appear in front of audiences. Jerry Lewis, born in Newark, N.J., in 1926, continues working with no sign of slowing down. Many fans love him unconditionally, labeling him a cinematic genius. Others have criticized his signature brand of slapstick humor as silly and repetitive. Beyond show business, his occasional offensive remarks toward women and "lifestyles" have drawn criticism as a holdout from an earlier era. Regardless of this, his humanitarian work has been a noble effort.

Lewis always seems to have unlimited energy. Despite numerous health problems over the years, he continues to carry as an entertainer. I was lucky to attend two of his recent East Coast shows, April 4 at the Bergen PAC Center in Englewood, N.J., and April 5 at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, N.J. As I was driving to these shows, I thought to myself how much has changed in the world, yet Jerry Lewis is still headlining.

His live appearances have always been a blend of jokes, song, comedy, and film clips. Recently turning 87 on March 16, he still looks good, albeit a little slower. He performs most of his stage show from a tall stool nowadays. Lewis is no stranger to live comedy, going back to his beginnings as a duo with Dean Martin in the famous nightclubs of post-World-War-II America. Lewis relies heavily on vintage clips, interspersed with his personal recollections. He always seems to introduce the same few scenes from his long running Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethons. I'm not sure if they are the only ones readily available, or the few he prefers to share time and again. A touching moment was a rare clip from a 1957 episode of "The Jerry Lewis Show" involving his father, Danny Lewis, and son, Gary Lewis, all singing "Sonny Boy"

Jerry Lewis was one of the biggest stars in cinema during his heyday, and that makes up a large portion of his recent shows. At the ones I attended, classic scenes were presented on a large screen from such films as The Bellboy (1960). His specialty has always been visual humor. Of course, at 87, the visual humor is restricted to the big screen behind him, coupled with some of his well-known facial gestures. It appears Lewis is more at home nowadays reflecting on his career, specifically in cinema. This was well represented by a lengthy Q & A session with the audience. Microphones were set up in the aisles on both sides of the theatre, and many attendees were given a chance to speak personally to Lewis. It gave him a chance to mix some very funny adlib humor (mostly aimed at the throwaway comments by people who somehow think he can remember certain nightspots and locales of 60 years ago), with some very insightful thoughts on his career responding to more serious questions about his work and career.

Lewis told the audience he always looked forward to performing live on stage, and continues to enjoy it. He mentioned the upcoming Broadway version of The Nutty Professor and a film he recently completed which he was very proud of entitled Max Rose. As I exited the theatre after the two shows I attended, I heard nothing but praise from the audience. Happy faces all around!

Once there was a time when theaters all across America displayed the names of celebrity icons that all seemed larger than life. Seeing Jerry Lewis spelled out across two New Jersey theatre marquees this April gave me a good feeling. Once again, spring was in the air, and Jerry Lewis was still saying "Hey Laaady!" after all those years. Yes...he did say it for the audience when a fan asked him! Jerry Lewis has always been politically ambiguous. He has never used his position in show business to criticize domestic or foreign leaders. His stated philosophy has always been to serve the everyday people who are in need. Besides his support for the Muscular Dystrophy Association that has spanned a half-century, he has also worked with the March of Dimes and the World Smile Foundation. No matter what you may think of Jerry Lewis in the entertainment spotlight, his charitable work speaks for itself. It's nice knowing, in this day and age, he is still out there ... and thriving.

Photo: Jerry Lewis, left, and Robert De Niro in a scene from the 1983 dark comedy movie "The King of Comedy," directed by Martin Scorsese. The 2013 Tribeca Film Festival closed with a 30th anniversary restoration of the film. This year's festival thus bowed out on April 27 with a classic from one of its founders, Robert De Niro. 20th Century Fox/AP

Film sets "escape fires" to fix health care system

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:03:00 +0000

AUSTIN, Texas - The part-educational/part call-to-action documentary, "Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare," was recently shown here on the campus of the AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine. The national lobby organization, the Young Invincibles, came to the campus April 3 to screen the award-winning film, as a part of the school's East West Forum, where health professionals of multiple modalities come together to discuss pressing issues in the realm of health care.

Young Invincibles' Erin Hemlin introduced the film, explaining that the showing is in honor of public health week. The organization is a legislative voice for the so-called "young invincibles," the 18-34 year-old Americans without health insurance, who think their age negates a need to have health care or be engaged in the health care reform process.

"Escape Fire," featured at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, received "honors" at the 2012 AFI Silverdocs. The documentary features Dr. Donald Berwick, former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Wendell Potter, former executive at insurance giant Cigna, explaining the "disease management system," where health care providers spend minimal time with patient care, instead they are forced to deal with a patchwork of insurers, facilities and practitioners. The film includes the lives of health care professionals struggling to provide long-term solutions for patients that are not of value to the current disease management apparatus, including Drs. Dean Ornish and Andrew Weil, whose work challenges the status quo of the corporate-dominated disease management system. Ornish has a medical practice emphasizing dietary interventions for preventing and curing disease. He has successfully treated medical conditions perceived as untreatable by the disease management system. Weil runs a fellowship program at the University of Arizona to support and transform health care by providing doctors additional training in patient-centered care.

Following the film showing, AOMA Professors Raja Mandayam and John Finnell provided further comments. Raja is a member of London's Royal College of Physicians since 1974 and has held a number of consultant posts in England, India, Papua New Guinea, and Saudi Arabia. He said he never got a medical license within the United States, because the system is so corrupted by corporate influences. In his pharmacology classes, he stresses the potential side effects of medications, because patients (and medical students) are generally uninformed of them. Finnell, who holds a Masters of Science from Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology and is a doctor of naturopathic medicine, pointed out that the film did not address the health concerns of the American diet. With rising incidences of cancer and diabetes, there is a correlation between unhealthy diets and illness. He also pointed out that many corporate-brand processed foods are, by design, intended to create addiction to them and distaste for healthier unprocessed foods.

After the film, Hemlin pledged that next year the Young Invincibles would return to Texas to galvanize the underrepresented "young invincibles" in state and federal politics.

Movie review

"Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare"

Directed by Susan Frömke, Matthew Heineman

2012, 95 min., PG-13

Photo: Scene from the "Escape Fire" documentary (via escapefiremovie.com).

“Do the Math:” a review for Earth Day and beyond

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:03:00 +0000

350.org has provided a 45-minute film about climate change for people all over the country. Many hundreds of house meetings were held on April 21, the night before Earth Day, all over the United States. It was followed by the webcast of panel discussions about the movement for action on climate change.

The film, entitled "Do the Math," is based on a Rolling Stone article by Bill McKibben last year, and on a multi-city tour he took over the last few months. You can watch the film online at: http://act.350.org/signup/math-movie/ or read the original article at: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719

The basic message of the article, tour, and film is that we only need to understand three numbers to know why action is required to address climate change.

The first number is two degrees Celsius. This is the generally agreed on international benchmark for the upper limit of how much more global warming we can cause before catastrophic changes all over the globe, before we cause irreparable and potential irreversible harm to humanity-to our agricultural, transportation, and industrial systems.

The second number is 565 gigatons of carbon dioxide. That is how much more carbon dioxide that can be emitted in the next few decades to give the world a reasonable chance of staying below those two degrees Celsius of global warming.

The third number is 2,795 gigatons. This is the amount of carbon-based fuel that the fossil fuel industries claim is still in the ground-known reserves that they base their net worth on. This is about five times higher than the total amount that can be emitted-in other words, if the oil, gas, and coal industries continue tap their known reserves without effective limits, we are on the path to drastic climate change which will challenge the existence of developed human society.

The fossil fuel industries do not pay for the pollution they are emitting into our shared atmosphere-the burning of fossil fuels is like the old factories with waste pipes pouring massive amounts of toxic waste into our waterways. The benefit for the companies is that they do not have to pay for their bad behavior, do not have to pay for the harm they are doing to all of us.

The film, and panel discussions talked about several campaigns underway to popularize the need for action on climate change and to begin to fight the financial and political power of the fossil fuel industries. One is this film itself. Another is a campaign on over 300 college campuses demanding divestment of funds from fossil fuel companies, and similar campaigns in many municipalities and states, which hold billions in pension funds. A key struggle right now is the fight against the Keystone XL pipeline, which will increase the amount of tar sands oil mined from the wilderness of Canada-exactly the wrong direction to take. There were also clips from the February demonstration in Washington, D.C., of about 40,000 people, the largest climate change demonstration thus far.

Van Jones, featured in the film alongside Bill McKibben and many others, has called for the creation of millions of living wage jobs in conservation, in developing the green energy industry, and in public projects to tackle climate change. A weakness of the film is that this crucial aspect of the struggle was mostly left out of the film, which focuses on the moral and survival reasons to fight climate change and the fossil fuel industries.

The corporations who oppose legislation to institute a carbon tax are among the corporations who oppose labor law reform, increases in the minimum wage, and public works in general. These same corporations have funded climate change denialists, and many continue to do so. The same corporations oppose closing tax loopholes that benefit corporations and the wealthy. The same corporations oppose ending taxpayer funded subsidies for oil and gas exploration.

The movement to address climate change will only be able to build a coalition broad enough to change government policy if it explicitly unites with unions, with the cause of the unemployed, with struggles for environmental justice and against environmental racism.

Watch the film, read the article, do the math, sign up for the struggle, and link it to the struggles you are already involved in. Our common future depends on it.

Photo: 350.org/FB

Jay-Z's Open Letter: A call to open travel and trade with Cuba

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:20:00 +0000

"We must send a strong message to Beyonce and Jay-Z that the United States of America will not tolerate this kind of provocation," declared Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., responding to their recent trip to Havana, Cuba. The couple were in Cuba as part of a cultural exchange.

The Florida lawmaker accused President Obama of "permitting the crisis to escalate dangerously." He continued, "While the president has allowed himself to be distracted by North Korea, Beyonce and Jay-Z were engaged in threatening activities right in our own hemisphere." If this was not absurd enough Diaz-Balart went on the say President Obama was "soft on Beyonce."

This is "a ridiculous but all too common outdated and irrational U.S. policy to Cuba." responded Gail Walker director of Pastors for Peace, an organization that leads the annual US/Cuba Friendshipment Caravan.

Walker continued, "There are real life impacts to these delusions, more serious than cigars and rum," referring to Cuba's cutting-edge diabetes treatments denied to U.S. citizens because of the embargo.

Because of the tea party's attack, the Carters' (Jay-Z's given name is Shawn Carter) recent trip has turned into a source of discussion, with people from all walks of life offering opinions.

Indeed, the fact that the two African-American cultural icons found their way to socialist Cuba is striking a nerve that Sean Penn and Oliver Stones' excursions never did.

Jay-Z and Beyonce's strong support of President Obama may also be a reason. In "Open Letter," a lyrical response to the controversy, Jay-Z jokes "Obama said 'chill you gonna get me impeached. But you don't need this shit anyway chill with me on the beach." The rapper was just getting started,

"I'm in Cuba, I love Cuba.

This Communist talk

it's so confusing

when it's from China

the very Mic I'm using..."

The response to "Open Letter" has been electric. He "went in on the Republicans" according to one of thousands of Americans who have written messages supporting the couple. Social media sites were flooded with comments like "somebody pissed my boy jay off" and "the old jay's back yall in trouble now!"

The controversy has led many to question the imposed restrictions and by all accounts interest in licensed travel is going up. State Senator Bill Perkins. D-N.Y., captured this sentiment, "We should be sending letters of support and congratulations to Beyonce and Jay-Z. They are showing us how cultural exchanges should be done".

Perkins went on to say, "I will be applying for the appropriate license and visiting Cuba myself".

Indeed, a growing number of Americans do not share Diaz-Balart's views. Even fellow Arizona Republican, Sen. Jeff Flake sees the writing on the wall declaring on Twitter, "Fine by me. Every American should have the right to travel there."

Indeed, now is the time to get past the rhetoric and have a real discussion, about the right to travel and beyond that, the real social benefits socialism has provided the people of Cuba.

Photo: In this April 4, photo, U.S. singer Beyonce and her husband, rapper Jay-meet street performers on stilts as they tour Old Havana, Cuba. On April 9, U.S. Treasury officials said the trip by Beyonce and Jay-Z to Cuba was licensed as an educational exchange. Ramon Espinosa/AP

"Free Angela" - what you do when wolves come after you

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:31:00 +0000

Right-wing anti-Castro Cubans are howling about the two day, three night visit to Cuba of rapper Jay Z and Beyonce.

Their Treasury Department licensed trip was for a cultural exchange with the Cuban people and to celebrate their wedding anniversary and that is, by all reports, what they did.

The real problems here are not Jay Z and Beyonce, but the anti-communists.

Yet things were much worse 45 years ago.

Which brings me to "Free Angela and all Political Prisoners." It is a great documentary film that was just released last week and is in theaters in some U.S. cities.

It is a film about an American story; a story about how our government and the U.S. capitalist class maintain their rule domestically with repression, racism and anti- communism. (Review continues after the trailer.)

Those obsessions helped to rationalize the entrapment of tens of thousands of poor working people, disproportionately non-white, in a prison system that segregated by race, that put people in bondage and that framed up, tortured and murdered people when they rebelled.

It is a story of how that same system, fueled by anti-communism and racism, took many innocent lives and nearly took the life of a courageous black woman communist; a scholar and political activist, because she fought to end that system of oppression and to transform society.

"Free Angela and all Political Prisoners," written and directed by Shola Lynch, brilliantly shows the history-making struggle over 40 years ago to free Angela Davis who was falsely implicated in a shootout at the Marin County Courthouse in San Raphael, Calif. The shootout was between the police and teenager Jonathan Jackson, who desperately wanted to free his jailed brother, George Jackson, and fellow inmates because of the imminent danger to their lives in the horrible prison conditions they faced.

Davis had nothing to do with the shootout. But the county and state authorities, California Gov. Ronald Reagan and then-President Nixon, all conspired to implicate Angela Yvonne Davis in the shootout, hoping to send her to the state's gas chamber.

"Free Angela and all Political Prisoners" is mostly about how that conspiracy was exposed and morally, politically and legally defeated.

It is one of the most moving documentary films I have ever seen. Maybe because I was part of the Free Angela movement and in almost every scene there were events that I remember, people I knew or knew of and stories I had heard of and/or experienced.

My eyes teared up when I saw Henry Winston, chairman of the CPUSA, appear on the screen, and Bettina Aptheker recounting how brilliant he was to have advised the campaign to free Angela should concentrate on the issues of a fair trial and bail for Davis.

I thought of Winnie's own story. Jailed under the infamous anti- communist Smith Act in the 1950s, Winston went blind in prison because authorities denied him needed life-saving medical care and surgery, only giving him aspirin.

John Abt, the Communist Party's attorney, led the fight to win an early medical release from President Kennedy for Winston. The early release saved his life. Winston went on to become the national chair of the CPUSA.

Winnie, as he was affectionately called, understood what Davis was going through. What Abt did for Winston in the 50s, Winston did for Davis in the 70s.

There are many interviews and speeches by Angela throughout the film and some wonderful quotes and clips of so many people. I knew many them. Some are no longer with us, like Franklin and Kendra Alexander who played a terrific role in the great struggle. I was sorry that while she was mentioned there were no interviews with Charlene Mitchell. Mitchell was the chairperson of the National Committee to Free Angela and also played a magnificent leading role in the struggle. Davis' attorney, Leo Branton Jr., provided brilliant leadership in developing legal strategy and tactics.

There is one interview I particularly liked. Victoria Missick, then an outstanding youth leader of the Young Workers Liberation League, was being interviewed while she was walking a picket line in New York to free Angela.

A reporter asked her a question about the case and she expressed her deep conviction that Angela was innocent. The reporter then asked her, "If she was innocent why did she run away?" Missick hesitated a few seconds and then responded, "If a pack of wolves were coming after you, you would run too." The audience in the theater actually broke out into applause.

There were many times during the film that the audience applauded.

When Fania Davis, Angela's sister, said "Angela's education is now being put into practice," she was shown traveling around the world and standing in front of a rally of thousands in Paris and delivering a speech in French; I was reminded of the role the party's youth organization played in the struggle.

I chaired the Young Workers Liberation League back then and helped to organize the international youth tour for Fania Davis. She spoke to hundreds of thousands of supporters all over the world.

Then there were the photos of Reggie Davis, Angela's youngest brother and Sally Davis, Angela's mother, who has since passed. It just bought back wonderful memories. Angela was only 26 when all of this happened. Looking at the film I was struck by how young everybody looked. There is a brief appearance by Gus Hall, general secretary of the CPUSA back then. He must have been in his 60s then.

Angela Davis is the principal narrator of the film but Bettina Aptheker, Margaret Burnham, New York reporter Earl Caldwell and Davis' attorney Howard Moore also participate.

The film has many tender, personal moments and powerful moments on legal strategy. But the film is really about the movement that was built to win Davis' freedom. As Aptheker points out, the international movement was initiated by the Communist parties, but it was much broader than that here in the U.S. and worldwide.

Artists Jada Pinkett, Will Smith and Jay Z helped to finance the film. In one of her interviews, Pinkett spoke out against the anti-communism that nearly took the life of Davis. She said most people today are opposed to anticommunism, saying the struggle changed the country politically and helped to make possible the election of our first black president. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who was viciously redbaited as well, made the point that the nation's "irrational, obsessive anti-communism that has led us into too many quagmires to be retained as if it were a mode of scientific thinking."

Go see this movie and get inspired to continue the struggle.

Movie Review

"Free Angela and All Political Prisoners"

Directed by Shola Lynch

2013 (U.S.), 102 min.

See #Free Angela. @peoplesworld: shar.es/Jb4qg "What You Do When Wolves Come After You?...Get inspired to continue the struggle."
— Free Angela (@sholalynch) April 12, 2013

The man behind D.C. football team’s outrageous name

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:14:00 +0000

Many people, myself included, wonder how, in 2013, a multimillion-dollar professional football team can continue to be named after a racial slur.

In fact, football's Washington D.C. franchise just has had the hits keep on coming:

* The success of rookie phenom quarterback Robert Griffin III - more popularly known as RG3 - and his subsequent injury in the playoffs.

* Public outrage over the condition of FedEx Field during the game where RG3 got hurt.

* A recent Smithsonian symposium about the use of Native American iconography and names in sports.

* And the members of the US House of Representatives seeking to eliminate the team's trademark.

To fully understand the long history of the D.C. area football team's name (note: I refuse to use the name in print), one must understand the man who bestowed that name upon the franchise - George Preston Marshall.

Marshall is popularly lauded as a Football Hall of Famer for adding bands and fancy halftime shows, pushing for a standardized schedule for a season, and affecting offensive rules. But Marshall is more negatively known for his overt racism that marred his tenure as owner from 1932 until 1969.

After Marshall gained sole ownership of the team, he renamed it from the Boston Braves to the racial slur it holds today. Five years after purchasing the team, he moved the franchise from Boston to Washington D.C.

As an ardent opponent of racial integration, Marshall's teams remained all white on purpose, even as other NFL franchises began to break the color line in the 1940s. But the racialized drafting and signing of players served a larger purpose than affirming Marshall's own personal racist beliefs. It also allowed the Washington D.C. franchise - then the southernmost NFL team - to market itself quite successfully to the segregationist American South.

In 1962, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy successfully used their leverage against Marshall to finally break his team's long-standing color line. They threatened to not let the team play in the taxpayer-funded D.C. Stadium if the team did not integrate. So, the 1962 NFL draft saw African American running back Ernie Davis picked by the D.C. football team. Upon getting the news, Davis remarked, "I won't play for that sonofabitch" and was traded for Bobby Mitchell, the man who ultimately would desegregate Marshall's squad.

Marshall remained owner of the team until his death in 1969. Yet, even after his death, his animus toward racial integration could be seen in his will's demand that money spent by his foundation not go toward "any purpose which supports or employs the principle of racial integration in any form."

This is the legacy behind the name of Washington's football team. The current owners of the Washington D.C. franchise dig in, whitewash Marshall's racist past and extol the supposed pride and tradition of their name - as if simply doing something for a long time automatically makes it morally and ethically right. But there is a growing groundswell of resistance. Washington D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray has suggested that it is time to change the name. The recent Smithsonian symposium and a relatively slow sports news cycle has allowed this long-standing issue in sports to once again come to the fore. It has long been time to change the name and now we may have that opportunity.

Photo: Old boy network? George Preston Marshall, right, owner of the Washington football team, and Bert Bell, NFL commissioner, present President Truman with his annual pass to NFL games, Sept. 15, 1949, in the Oval Office.

Patent Office cancels Washington's disparaging trademark: The U.S. Patent Office ruled June 18, 2014, that the Washington Redskins nickname is "disparaging of Native Americans" and that the team's federal trademarks for the name must be canceled.

Why "Game of Thrones" reigns supreme

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:29:00 +0000

"Winter is Coming." That's the common slogan of many a character in "Game of Thrones," an epic fantasy series now in its third season. It is set in the cold land of Westeros, and, weather-wise, it seems to mirror our own U.S., over which there still hangs an extended, climate change-induced chill. Beyond that, "Game of Thrones" seems to graft medieval and fantasy dressings onto situations and interactions that reflect our own society. Therein may lie just one of the many reasons for the series' massive popularity. Or maybe people just really like dragons and a good swordfight.

Based on the excellent book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, "Game of Thrones" is named after the first entry in that series. The story focuses on members of noble houses caught up in a civil war for the Iron Throne, upon which whoever sits may have rulership over the series' Seven Kingdoms. Meanwhile, a humanity-crippling winter is on its way, bringing with it menacing beasts from the North, known only as "the Others." The show chronicles the interactions and battles of these characters, and is filled with drama and political intrigue.

"Game of Thrones" has obtained an exceptionally large fanbase and piqued the interest of critics who usually give fantasy the cold shoulder. There was a Game of Thrones exhibit held in New York from March 28 through April 3, to which thousands flocked to examine props and swords, meet some of the actors from the show, and have a chance to get their picture taken while sitting upon the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, Tumblr is chock full of "Winter is Coming" memes and images of the series' 'dragon mother,' Daenerys.

The show has won eight Emmy awards (and been nominated for 16 more), a Golden Globe award, and a Hugo Award. The Season Three premiere earned 4.4 million viewers - an all-time high. It is the most heavily-pirated series in history, with the Season Two finale receiving 4.3 million downloads - and the series' channel, HBO, isn't even mad.

"I probably shouldn't be saying this," said HBO director of programming Michael Lombardo, "but it is a compliment of sorts. The demand is there, and it certainly didn't negatively impact DVD sales. Piracy is something that comes along with a having a wildly successful show on a subscription network."

For many years now, some critics and viewers have dismissed the fantasy genre as exhausted and irrelevant. But, to be fair, even fantasy lovers may be growing tired of the done-to-death sword-and-sorcery format, which almost religiously follows the themes of J.R.R. Tolkien; they may, as well, be entirely uninterested in the sappy, "Twilight"-esque teenybopper fantasy that Hollywood has been putting out these past few years. "Game of Thrones" adheres to neither of those conventions.

Dispensing entirely with a clear-cut 'good vs. evil' theme, this series' characters are flawed and morally ambiguous. Critics have jokingly called them "the Sopranos of middle-Earth," and perhaps with good reason. A single episode is filled with love, death, betrayal, sex, and war, with magic serving as more of a subtle backdrop to these elements. The series is as harsh and grim as its winters, and may thus speak especially to young adult viewers who have grown up in a time in the U.S. that is all too similar in tone.

Viewers, after all, aren't looking for morally upstanding long-bearded wizards anymore. The days of camp and wonder are over, and "Game of Thrones" is certainly reflective of that. Where many fantasy-based worlds serve as forms of bright, magical wish-fulfillment for viewers, this series' land of Westeros offers a sense of realism, at least where societal practices and human interactions are concerned.

Though still an epic fantasy series, it is in many respects also a love letter to historical fiction. The Guardian compared, for example, Westeros to real-world England during the War of the Roses, in that a land was unified by a single throne, yet houses fought over who would sit upon it. Martin also cited Maurice Druon's novels about medieval France as partial inspiration for his series.

It is this mashup of semi-realism, hat-tipping to political history, and unabashed acknowledgement of the dark side of humanity, that has skyrocketed "Game of Thrones" to the point of critical acclaim.

With George R. R. Martin currently working on the latest entry in the book series, The Winds of Winter, the obsession with "Game of Thrones" shows no signs of slowing down.

Photo: Game of Thrones' 'dragon mother,' Daenerys Targaryen. Game of Thrones Facebook page

"Evil Dead" is more dead than evil

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:20:00 +0000

I wanted to love this film; I really, really did. A remake of the 1981 cult classic The Evil Dead, this one tells a very similar story. Five friends head to a cabin deep in the woods, where they find a sinister book that unleashes a demonic force, which proceeds to pick them off one by one, and in increasingly gory ways. While as far as being a splatterfest goes, "Evil Dead" certainly delivers, it fails to truly horrify.

To its credit, "Evil Dead" provides a sadly realistic reason for the cabin getaway: Main character Mia (Jane Levy) is trying to kick a heroin habit, and her brother (Shiloh Fernandez) and her friends are determined to see it through to the end. Unfortunately for them, they picked a cabin that happens to have animal carcasses and traces of witchcraft in the cellar, as well as a grimoire full of incantations and demonic diagrams. After the group's token hipster (yes, those exist in films now) recites a few Lovecraftian words from the book, he unleashes an evil beyond their imaginations - but, at this point, nowhere near above the audience's expectations.

From there, a demon (or demons - we never learn if it's more than one) seizes control of Mia, spreading its evil to the other females like a zombie infection, and causing gruesome mayhem that pushes the butchery to new levels. But it never seems to push the envelope.

What could have been a sprawling, dark journey that rattled the nerves and unsettled the stomach, instead is little more than an over-the-top fusion of jump scares and a concentrated effort by the filmmakers to convince us they're willing to use truckloads of fake blood - as if it's going to strengthen the impact of all the savagery. But blood the color of red Kool-Aid is more "campy" than "queasy." And campy, indeed, is a good word to describe the more disappointing aspects of "Evil Dead." The dialogue is at times either cheesy or predictable, and yes, all the clichés in this film are very tongue-in-cheek, but at a certain point, that sarcasm is lost on the viewer, who just wants something new.

It's true - the original Evil Dead was purposefully, outrageously campy. But after having been given every indication by the filmmakers that this version aimed to be darker and menacing, what we end up with is a big letdown.

What's actually a shame is that female lead Jane Levy actually does a good job. Modern horror often fails from unbelievable acting or laughable facial expressions. Levy really slides into the role of someone who is actually disturbed and terrified, but that subtle touch nearly becomes a joke when combined with the melodramatic, cornball background music. Moreover, Levy doesn't really get much normal dialogue in. The filmmakers would rather have her crawling up the cellar stairs and doing her best "Exorcist" routine.

"I can smell your filthy soul!" demon-Mia exclaims. You can almost imagine the entire audience collectively rolling their eyes.

Despite all this, "Evil Dead" is a fun enough film, if accepted simply as an enjoyable way to spend your afternoon at the movies. It's more form than content, more guts than grimness, but that's acceptable enough for this genre.

For us younger horror fans, there is a definite "awesome" factor here. The makeup and creepy orange eyes look very, very cool. The action sequences are well-executed, and this demon-thing that Mia becomes has all the makings of an iconic character, no doubt inspiring Halloween costumes for years to come. And it is nice to have a good old fashioned monsters-and-demons style horror film again, rather than exploitative torture designed to see how much money we're willing to spend to watch the modern-day equivalent of a Roman gladiator match. But we also can't help notice that "Evil Dead" is neither a cut above its predecessor, nor above genre conventions.

More than anything, this film is proof of the damage that commercialism and marketing have done to the cinema experience. It was touted as "the most terrifying film ever;" advertised as something that "you shouldn't watch alone." We were given every reason to believe that if we flocked to theaters to see this, it would honor these promises and be more than worth the ticket price. Well, it's still worth seeing, but try and get a discount on that ticket.

And yet, it has huge box office numbers, which point out a rather unfortunate truth: Horror is rapidly becoming a commodity; buckets of blood with a price tag, rather than a piece of art that actually makes us feel something.

We're supposed to be horrified, not merely satisfied. We now live in an era where taboos and censorship are fading away. Given that fact, horror filmmakers have every opportunity to give us something chilling and creative. Instead, we're left walking out of the theater with perhaps the most annoying of opinions: "Well, it wasn't that bad...but it wasn't that great, either."

"Evil Dead"

Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez

Directed by Fede Alvarez

92 minutes

Photo: There's no shortage of "blood" in "Evil Dead." Evil Dead Facebook page