THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR (Dir. Ivan Dixon, 1973, US) – ‘You have just played out the American dream…now, we’re gonna turn it into a nightmare’
The high point of Blaxploitation political radicalism is commonly signposted with Melvin Van Peebles groundbreaking film – ‘Sweetback’. When considering the limitations of Blaxploitation cinema, the seminal nature of Peebles … Continue reading
CHOMANA DUDI / CHOMA’S DRUM (1975, India, B. V. Karanth)
In Chomana Dudi the sound of the drumbeat never really stops. It is a sound at first made by Choma (Vasudeva Rao in a remarkable performance), the aging bonded labourer … Continue reading
ARGO (Dir. Ben Affleck, 2012, US) – Cowboys and Indians
Ben Affleck as CIA agent Tony Mendez. Argo opens with a glib lesson in shoddy Hollywood political objectivity, attempting to tell us that the geopolitical situation of Iran during the … Continue reading
KILLING THEM SOFTLY (Dir. Andrew Dominik, 2012, US) – ‘America’s not a country, it’s a business…’
Brad Pitt as enforcer/hit-man ‘Jackie Cogan’ ‘And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength … Continue reading
