“I Saw Horrific War Crimes Committed by Azov” [2022)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=gzERUR003EQ

A former French soldier goes on Radio Sud.

His name is Adrien Bocquet.

He had been in Ukraine for 16 days.

A special operator (commando) there to render humanitarian (medical) aid.

He was in Kiev, Bucha, and Lvov.

Which is to say–he was everywhere.

He was where most don’t go (particularly Bucha).

Here is a man with extensive military and war experience.

[He is a paraplegic as a result of a military training exercise.]

The French speak to the French.

The carrots are cooked.

The carrots are cooked.

Study your history.

The French Resistance.

What were they resisting?

The Nazis.

Who had occupied their country.

And what were these cryptic radio broadcasts?

They were mainly rubbish.

Until the Resistance got the message they had been waiting for.

The French Resistance received a message.

And that message activated a network of saboteurs who wrecked railway lines, etc.

The French Resistance prepared the battlefield (the best they could) in a very important way for the Allies who landed on the beaches of Normandy (D-Day).

And today…the former allied countries (USA, France, etc.) are sending weapons to Ukrainian neo-Nazis (and lying to their domestic populations about the nature of this new ally [Ukraine] which they are supporting with unspeakable monetary and military donations).

Sud Radio Bercoff.

Present-day.

Parlons vrai.

Bocquet has written a book about his paralysis.

Published by Max Milo.

Every detail is important.

Lève toi et marche.

YouTube removed my song “Crimes Against Humanity”.

Here it is:

https://open.spotify.com/track/0MzTHxuzAqgGhkcukKDsBf?si=aa308652430d4839

https://music.apple.com/us/album/crimes-against-humanity/1606516493?i=1606516495

Who can most-easily recognize war crimes?

A soldier.

A soldier who has been trained to never (under no circumstances) ever commit these violations of the Geneva Conventions.

Mr. Bocquet says he saw no war crimes committed by Russians in Ukraine.

But that he saw MANY, MANY war crimes committed in Ukraine.

By the Ukrainian military (primarily the Azov Battalion [which, by the way, is a group which is closer to 20,000 neo-Nazi soldiers rather than just 5,000 neo-Nazi soldiers]).

And, as has been stated repeatedly here and elsewhere, the Azov Battalion is part of the official Ukrainian military force structure.

They are not a militia.

They are not separate from the Ukrainian military.

They are very much indeed a substantial portion of the mainline Ukrainian military.

And they are neo-Nazis.

And they were trained by NATO.

And they are currently being funded by the countries of NATO (including the $46 BILLION dollars flowing from the USA [thanks to the U.S. Congress being a bunch of ignorant fucking retards]).

Why did the Azov Battalion take as their main symbol the Wolfsangel of the Nazi SS?

Why did they likewise complement it with the Nazi “black sun” symbol (merely inverted to a white sun)?

[The Azov Battalion has, of course, recently (in the last few weeks) completely redesigned its patch.  Does that satisfy you, dear readers, that they are decidedly no longer neo-Nazis?  I’m sorry.  It doesn’t satisfy me.]

IMG_8420

Compare to the emblem (below) of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich (to cite but one example).

IMG_0104

What did Zelensky say about the Azov Battalion when questioned about them by (it must be admitted) rather pathetic Fox News journalist Bret Baier?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=yGiNzgxeoNk

This was the translation that played on Fox News:

“So, Azov was [sic] one of those many battalions.  They are what they are. (!)  They were defending our country.  And later I want to explain to you.  Everything, uh, from, uh, all the components of those volunteer battalions later, uh, were, uh, incorporated into the…the military of Ukraine.  Those, uh, Azov, uh, fighters are no longer self-, uh, established, uh, group:  they are a component of the Ukrainian military.  Back in 2014, there was [sic] situations when our volunteers was [sic] encircled and some of them did violate laws.  Uh, laws of Ukraine.  And they actually were taken to court and got, uh, prison sentences.  So law is above all.”

Have you ever known a Jew (like Zelensky) to defend neo-Nazis?

“They are what they are”?!?

“They were defending our country”???

It should be noted that Fox News seems to have eliminated this segment from the main Bret Baier broadcast featuring Zelensky.

It cannot be found within this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=pgxJwmL2_h0

But here it is again (as an isolated clip):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=nBYopwtwQ9U

Indeed, it appears Fox News was trying to cover for Jewish Zelensky’s rather unfortunate (and perhaps inadvertently-candid) defense of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion:

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/04/02/brett-baier-asks-volodymyr-zelenskyy-about-azov-battalion-reportedly-shooting-pows/

But let’s get back to the video at hand.

Radio Sud.

Bocquet continues:

The Azov Battalion (still very much existing and not, as Zelensky claimed, a thing of the past) were speaking in front of him in English, Russian, and Ukrainian (all languages in which Bocquet has at least some level of comprehension) and, “The joked and laughed that if they came across Jews or blacks, they would skin them.”).

Keep in mind that Zelensky, as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military, could (at any time over the past eight years [including now]) BREAK UP the Azov Battalion.

He could disband them.

He could disown them.

They could be deported.

Zelensky could (and should) refuse their services in “defending our country”.

But he doesn’t do this.

And it is quite surprising to me.

Because, as an actor, he should know the EASY, EASY impression this makes upon people across the world.

If a battalion sports Nazi symbols on its patch, it is VERY, VERY bad public relations.

Unless the goal is to tell the world, “We’re neo-Nazis.  Please save us from the awful Russians!”

The most epic and quintessential meme of the war:

IMG_9180

Bocquet says that the Azov members talking about skinning Jews and blacks seemed to view this kind of talk as “a total blast of fun for them”.

Hmmm…

I wonder why?

MAYBE THE FUCKING NAZI PATCH ON THEIR ARM SHOULD HAVE GIVEN THEM AWAY????????

But it gets worse.

It goes beyond talk.

Bocquet says he witnessed (and possesses video evidence of) “…Russian soldiers who had been captured and who were already badly beaten and were tied up. […]  And these Russian soldiers who were captured, they were brought in in little vans, three or four at a time.  Every time they brought [sic] made these soldiers get out of the van, the Ukrainian military, asked them, ‘Who’s the officer?  Who’s the officer?’  […] Every soldier who got out of the van was shot in the knee with a Kalashnikov.  […] while they were defenseless, tied up.  […]  And those who had the misfortune to say, ‘I’m the officer,’ would get shot in the head.”

Bocquet goes on to state that he saw American journalists lying about “Russian” bombardments of certain locations.

Their answer was:  “It’s okay.  It will make great photos.”

These were American journalists who were totally cognizant about the fact that they were deliberately misattributing Ukrainian bombings as “Russian” bombings.

The bombings in question were maladjusted, poorly-calibrated Ukrainian mortars.

So the American media on the ground was lying about most everything.

According to Bocquet.

Keep in mind, he has videos of the Russian soldiers being shot in the knees and heads.

Bocquet correctly states that in urban warfare, two sides (Ukrainian and Russian) shelling each other are BOTH going to hit civilian targets.

But the news coverage has portrayed every civilian target hit as being the result of “Russian bombing”.

That is simply not possible.

Bocquet survived a Russian missile attack on Lvov.

He went to assess the damage (near his hotel).

Of the five missiles fired by the Russians, four hit arms depots.

“…arms depots with weapons from Europe which were stored in Lviv waiting to be brought to Kiev and to the units.”

“…they store them in civilian facilities and in civilian houses, without people even knowing that.”

Bocquet says that, to avoid suspicion, even DHL vans are being used to transport weapons into Ukraine.

So that civilians are not aware that weapons are being stashed near their residences.

Bocquet is correct:

“I call that using the civilian population as human shields.”

Absolutely.

Bocquet was in Bucha.

About Bucha he says,
“…cadavers were left behind on purpose.  Even some bodies were moved for pictures [sic] purposes.”

Bocquet is calling for talk,

“about the war crimes of Ukraine, because those exist.  And all the people who are on the TV sets who say the opposite…”

Bocquet also accurately points out where the Western weapons are going:

“…the weapons we give are mainly to the Azov units.”

Bocquet accurately assesses the true size of the Azov Battalion:

it is not merely 5,000 troops, but at least three or four times that big (when “committed volunteers, plus volunteers from all over the place who come” are added to that number).

15,000-20,000 neo-Nazis.

In that particular battalion.

Which has the complete blessing of Zelensky and the central government in Kiev.

Indeed, Bocquet further adjust his number to claim that the Azov Battalion has AT LEAST 20,000 troops.

Keep in mind that this interview is from at least five weeks ago (no later than May 13, 2022).

Bocquet reiterates that this neo-Nazi battalion (the Azov Battalion), which had (until perhaps two weeks ago) a patch which features not one, but two Nazi symbols, is receiving weapons from Europe and the USA which they then use to commit war crimes.

Of this he has video.

And to be quite clear:

he is talking about 19-year-old Russian soldiers who have surrendered, are tied up and unresponsive, and are being shot twice in the knees and allowed to bleed to death.

Bocquet claims his video documentation of this includes “dozens and dozens of videos”.

How did he get such video?

Well, in addition to being a commando, he was also allowed to ride in automobiles because he is paralyzed.

I am guessing these factors allowed him to position himself in such a way while documenting as to not be noticed.

Bocquet makes a final point.

There are American and French MERCENARIES fighting on the side of Ukraine.

This term is important.

Do mercenaries enjoy all the protections of the Geneva Conventions?

I will let you research and decide that for yourself.

Bocquet reiterates:

these are mostly mercenaries (as opposed to foreign volunteers).

Bocquet was kidnapped and held for ten hours by the Azov Battalion.

They searched everything including his phone.

Bocquet was exfiltrated (by whom?) to Slovakia.

[main candidate:  DGSE]

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware of what is REALLY happening in Ukraine (as a result of Bocquet’s reportage).

By the way, this Ministry has a new head as of May 20, 2022 (after Bocquet’s interview).

The current officeholder is Catherine Colonna.

From Slovakia, Bocquet was taken to Krakow and then back to France.

As you might imagine, Bocquet is now no longer welcome in Ukraine.

Bocquet’s book title in English is Get Up and Walk.

Has the book been translated into English?

These are the kind of people we need to support.

If you need a musical dissertation on these topics, I humbly ask that you start here:

https://open.spotify.com/album/11Wzm0XHozgjD5Zfz45Sv7?si=tM-hdOrjQW-VDDMOYqUL1Q

https://music.apple.com/us/album/mariupol/1619627311

If you wish to research further, I humbly ask that you continue here:

https://deathwish.substack.com/p/denazification

-PD

N.B.  The Ukrainian military (primarily the Azov Battalion) killed approximately 14,000 Russian-speaking eastern Ukrainians in the Donbass between 2014 and 2022.

Last Night in Soho [2021)

First off.

I am in love with Thomasin McKenzie.

I think Saoirse Ronan has lost her touch.

Kat Dennings doesn’t even bother with films anymore.

And Thora Birch is too much of a liberal moron.

But then all actors are liberal morons, aren’t they?

Except for a precious few.

Jon Voight.

James Woods.

Rob Schneider.

Kirstie Alley.

Robert Davi.

Jim Caviezel.

Secondly.

This film is a masterpiece.

Edgar Wright is the best filmmaker in the world right now.

Is he better than Jean-Luc Godard?

No.

But Godard is not making films for mass consumption.

Is he better than Wes Anderson?

BY A MILLION FUCKING MILES!!!

Don’t get me wrong.

Wes Anderson made one perfect film.

And that film was The Grand Budapest Hotel.

And that film wouldn’t have been perfect without Saoirse Ronan.

That’s how important her presence in that film was.

Saoirse has made another perfect film.

Hanna.

But her others are mediocre.

Brooklyn.

Meh.

Lady Bird.

Even more meh (not a good thing).

Saoirse has gone astray.

Just as Thora Birch went astray.

Ghost World is a perfect film.

And American Beauty is close to perfect.

For my money, Homeless to Harvard is her other perfect film.

Kat Dennings films kinda suck.

Her masterpiece is actually 2 Broke Girls.

I’m serious.

But that’s not cinema.

Twin Peaks is cinema.

Even though it’s a TV show.

Histoire(s) du cinéma is the best film ever made.

And it was made for TV.

Homeless to Harvard is a Lifetime movie.

Made for TV.

It is not cinema.

Not exactly.

But it may be a perfect film.

Wes Anderson made his perfect film with Saoirse Ronan.

And he made a good film (Tenenbaums).

The rest are shite.

I did not understand Edgar Wright’s film language when I first saw Shaun of the Dead.

I thought it was crap.

How wrong I was!

Here is my contention.

Every Edgar Wright film is perfect.

Shaun of the Dead?

Yes.

Hot Fuzz?

Yes.

The World’s End?

Yes.

Baby Driver?

Yes.

Scott Pilgrim?

Yes.

And this film is perfect too.

But this is not quite the Wright you are used to.

This is a genuinely scary film.

But it stands up with Psycho, Rosemary’s Baby, and The Shining as one of the four best horror films ever made.

Edgar Wright films are all about detail.

But not the twee obsession with detail that Wes Anderson has.

Edgar Wright is overflowing with talent.

Wes Anderson is not.

Anderson needed Saoirse Ronan to make his perfect film.

And there was a bit (just a bit!) of grit in Grand Budapest.

Saoirse is missing from his other films.

And there is no real grit in any of the others.

Tenenbaums is good.

But the Wes Anderson players are tiresome.

Is Bill Murray amazing?

Yes.

But are his performances in Wes Anderson films his best work?

Absolutely not.

No more Jason Schwatzman (for fuck’s sake!).

Is Luke Wilson a great actor?

Yes.

What’s his best film?

Masked and Anonymous.

Maybe it’s Paltrow and Hackman which make Tenenbaums good.

For my money, Luke Wilson is the one who makes that film go.

But it is not on the same level as Grand Budapest.

Last Night in Soho is the Grand Budapest of the ’20s.

We’re in the ’20s now.

Are they roaring?

Like a fucking mouse.

Last Night in Soho is a gazillion times better than No Time to Die.

This film has everything the Bond film didn’t.

Substance.

Competent directing.

A story worth sticking with.

And so it is fitting that Diana Rigg’s last role should absolutely trump the death of James Bond.

The one George Lazenby film was WAY better than No Time to Die.

The death of love is more sad than the death of the hero.

Diana Rigg is the linchpin in the Bond franchise.

Pull that thread, and the sweater unravels.

Léa Seydoux is boring as fuck in the Bond films.

She was great in Blue.

But she was nothing compared to the one who carried that film (Adele Exarchopoulos).

Exarchopoulos made one perfect film.

Blue is the Warmest Color.

None of her other films are even good.

Wright makes what Youth in Revolt might have been.

He is not glib.

This is not a hipster film.

Michael Cera (who has made one perfect film [Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist]) is, mercifully, NOT in Last Night in Soho.

[correction…Kat Dennings DID make one perfect film]

Thomasin McKenzie’s obsession with ’60s London music is real.

It’s not a fucking Austin Powers joke.

Rita Tushingham is wonderful as Gram.

Excellent casting.

[take note, Bond franchise]

Thomasin hooks up with a black dude.

No big deal.

Take note, Bond franchise.

NOT EVERY FUCKING PERSON HAS TO BE BLACK IN ORDER FOR A FILM TO BE VIABLE!!!

Thomasin’s love interest is a black fellow.

I have no problem with that.

He does a good job.

For fuck’s sake…he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page!

Michael Ajao.

Fine acting!

There can be important black characters WITHOUT A FILM BEING A WOKE FUCKING JOKE (like the recent Bond film).

No big deal.

Don’t make it a big deal.

It has to fit with the story.

The story is the most important thing.

The writers of the Bond film (Purvis and Wade) have allowed their name to be attached to the fucking pathetic shit of No Time to Die.

So you get a kiwi to speak in a Cornish accent.

GREAT ACTRESS!

Thomasin McKenzie.

Say that name with me.

Jacinda Ardern’s father (or mother?) was a horse.

Ugly bitch.

Ugly soul.

Thomasin McKenzie is the best thing to ever come out of New Zealand.

However, there has been one perfect kiwi movie:  Eagle vs Shark.

Synnøve Karlsen is so fucking annoying in Soho.

And she was supposed to be.

So, good job (I guess).

Every film needs a villain.

And Jocasta (Karlsen’s character) is the real villain of this film.

Thomasin is different.

Jocasta beats her down.

Mentally.

A stingy spirit.

Can never share in any of her joys.

Do you know anyone like that?

But Thomasin is troubled.

Hallucinations?

Maybe.

Seeing ghosts?

Maybe.

We’re trying to solve a case here.

Cold case.

Maybe a lot of cold cases.

Maybe a serial killer.

To the Belle and Sebastian bedsit.

Salad days are short-lived.

Don’t underestimate Sandie Shaw.

Always something there to remind me.

1964.

Puppet on a string.

Gotta pay your dues.

As a wind-up bird girl.

Brian Epstein.

Giorgio Gomelsky.

Andrew Loog Oldham.

ABKCO.

The influence of Vertigo upon Last Night in Soho cannot be understated.

The red of the Café de Paris.

The blonde of Anya Taylor-Joy’s hair.

And Thomasin’s hair.

[also, don’t underestimate Bergman’s Persona]

The glance to the side.

It’s not Jimmy Stewart.

It’s Thomasin.

Allusions to The Way of the Dragon and The Lady from Shanghai in the mirrors.

Sure, a bit of Pulp Fiction.

But that’s just for the kids.

Edgar Wright’s grasp of cinema history is way deeper than some Tarantino bullshit.

And yet, he likes zombies.

And shitty horror films from the ’80s.

I mean REALLY shitty, camp ones.

Slasher films.

Back to Vertigo.

Kim Novak’s apartment is bathed in green neon.

But Thomasin’s bedsit is a red, white, and blue homage to Godard.

An homage to Une Femme est une femme.

Dancing.

Dancing girls.

Prostitutes.

Vivre sa vie.

Pink dress fembot.

Pew pew.

Thomasin is way sexier than Anya Taylor-Joy.

Thomasin is the girl next door.

The frumpy hair of Homeless to Harvard.

I love it.

It must be this way.

To juxtapose the transition to Swinging Sixties glamour.

Is Trump just culture jamming with his vaccine tack?

Either that, or the hero has become the villain.

Did the D.C. swamp make Trump into a swamp zombie?

Maybe no one comes out clean.

International law was broken.

War crimes.

All these Wright films have zombies.

Or robots.

Faceless automatons.

A bit of Dragon Tattoo.

We all like a good microfiche scene!

Is Terence Stamp her father?

If Sandie is her mother?

Could be.

Otherwise, she would be the daughter of a prick.

But Stamp tried to save Sandie.

Arsenic and old lace.

The ones you never suspect.

Sicario.

“Buried” in the walls.

Decomposing.

Poe.

Gacy.

Wright’s “sympathy for the serial killer”.

What happened to these people that made them monsters?

Don’t underestimate Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451 (his only English-language film…and a flat-out masterpiece).

In the world of Edgar Wright, it is records.

Vinyl.

Not books.

And sometimes the elderly want to die with their memories.

They are not going anywhere.

They are not fleeing.

It’s been a good life.

Going down with the ship.

Up in flames.

The shitbags want their deaths avenged.

After all, they were just horny, well-to-do dads who needed a little excitement.

Prostitution.

It’s the law, after all.

Murder is murder.

Crimes of passion.

By reason of insanity.

Not guilty.

Not insane.

But traumatized.

But Thomasin has been on the adventure.

She knows what Sandie has been through.

Trump was abused for four years.

That is true.

And he fought like a champ.

Is there no justice?

Is it culture jamming (I ask again)?

Confusion.

Keeping his enemies off balance.

Getting a foot in the door.

Truth Social will censor “hate speech” with a Silicon Valley AI bot.

In order to get on Apple App Store and Google Play.

But the roll out is delayed?

Lie about the vaccines.

“Safe and effective”.

Move in for the kill shot.

Against whom?

Big Pharma and the New World Order.

But we have to call out serial killers for who they are.

If you are saying the COVID vaccines are “safe and effective”, you are spreading misinformation that is endangering the lives of those who hear and trust you.

CDC:  11,879

  IMG_6975

Open VAERS:  23,149

IMG_6976

IMG_6977

Neither safe,

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html

https://openvaers.com/covid-data/mortality

nor effective.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-covid-deaths-2021-vaccines-b1963790.html

IMG_5785

10,000-20,000 vaccine deaths should be read as 100,000-200,000 vaccine deaths because of this:

https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/11/02/underreporting-vaccine-adverse-events

IMG_6468

IMG_6469

And correlation does not necessarily equal causation…unless this (peep the myocarditis…you think that’s all JnJ? [nigga please!]):

https://openvaers.com/covid-data

IMG_6981

But the election was stolen.

Or was it allowed to be stolen?

When will the other shoe drop?

Or does the other shoe even exist?

This charade is going to go on until 2024?

Maybe Sandie is not her mother.

-PD

Miranda [2009-2015)

Here is a lovely TV show called Miranda starring the inimitable Miranda Hart.

A big, goofy, awkward, and endearing woman.

I share a birthday with her.

Tom Ellis is quite good as Gary.

I hear he’s gone on to play Lucifer.

Yikes!

Sarah Hadland is good as Stevie (the titular Miranda’s best friend).

Tit-ular.

Patricia Hodge plays Miranda’s mum.

Such fun!

Sally Phillips’ character Tilly punctures the romance of this sitcom with her ridiculous, Joycean patois.

Bear with.  Bear with…

James Holmes (not the Colorado movie theater shooter) has a few good bits as Clive.

Adrian Scarborough is strangely essential.

He bloody loves crisps!

I was so glad to see Mark Heap here as the therapist.

I had missed him since binging Spaced.

I must admit:  I had many laugh-out-loud moments while watching this series.

There is quite a bit of physical comedy.

Miranda Hart really is a special comedienne.

And while Belinda Stewart-Wilson’s small role as Stinky might cause you to pine away,

Miranda is really the winner here.

Beauty is, indeed, deeper.

 

-PD

Spaced [1999-2001)

Very long time away.

Simon Pegg.

Let’s talk about how great Jessica Hynes (Stevenson) was (is).

As Daisy.

What a great show!

And directed by Edgar Wright.

All those movies in TV form.

Not mature creation, but fascinating to see where the great talent came from.

Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End.

You know what I mean.

I came to fall in love with Daisy Steiner.

Ah, the comfort of television!

And Julia Deakin as Marsha the landlady.

Makes you feel at home.

This series.

Surrogate friends.

And Mark Heap is very underrated.

[we’ll be getting to him in Miranda]

British TV.

Once the bug has bitten you, it is difficult to retreat.

Also a good bit of Nick Frost here.

Lots of alcohol.

David Walliams as Vulva.

Serafinowicz.

Michael Smiley is also so underrated here!

Wot?!?

 

-PD

Fargo [1996)

America is getting crazy.

Perhaps we’ve always been crazy.

But it seems like people are flipping out for a multitude of reasons.

Life is unpredictable.

We can only plan so much.

And then random events impress themselves upon us.

In America we had pre-election stress.

Very immense.

And now we have post-election stress.

Perhaps one half of the country was more stressed before, and the other half is more stressed now.

But the side which is stressed now (the losing side) is really pissed off.

And they are baiting.  With night crawlers.

And racing.  With illogic.

It’s a sort of contagion one must be removed from often in order just to survive.

This tension, as it turns out, is aptly symbolized by the film Fargo.

I have never reviewed a Coen brothers film on here till now.

And this is a good one.

I hesitate to call it great.

It’s a little too self-conscious to be great.

But it is a compelling watch nonetheless.

Our director is Joel Coen.  Ethan was producing.

1987.

A tangled web woven by a rather mundane fellow named Jerry Lundegaard.

Up in the Scandinavian north of the USA.

A piece of shit towing a piece of shit.

Fargo, North Dakota.

It’s a sad story.

But funny in its idiosyncrasies.

The everyday life of the Dakotas.

Minnesota.  Iota.

It’s edgy.

Murders.

But in steps the marvelous Frances McDormand.

Such a humanizing presence here.

To draw out “funny-looking”…just “funny-looking”…other than being uncircumcised?

Steve Park is excellent as Mike Yanagita…with a Minnesota accent.

We don’t think of these things as possible.

Down here in Texas.

Like getting cut shaving.

Ouch.

And then a Paul Bunyan axe.

But the bizarre calmness of William H. Macy might take the cake.

Calm until the very end.

Perhaps we would call it bourgeois denial.

And so perhaps panic is natural.

When we see a complete lack of panic replaced by the Nile.

“Funny-looking” comes back.

In several feet of snow.

It might get cold tomorrow (!)…front blowing in.

One socked foot.  Like a periscope.

The sweetest thing is the romance between McDormand and John Carroll Lynch.

At the buffet.  Smorgasbord.  The Swedish meatballs.  Watching TV in bed.

Every night.

And waking up together, every morning.

It is quaint.

It is America.

It is the electoral college.

You have 50 states to which you must appeal.  Convincingly.

Buscemi is pretty priceless.

Foulmouthed small-time criminal…in over his head pretty quick.

Peter Stormare, as it turns out, is actually Swedish.

And taciturn.

And of course we can’t forget the brief candles of José Feliciano.

Not a masterpiece, but strangely compelling.

 

-PD

Každý den odvahu [1964)

I took a long time off.

Because the brain is delicate.

I have crammed so many facts into my noggin.

That a release valve was needed.

The escape of television.

Which is to say, I’m no better than anyone else.

In some ways, I’m no different.

And this film proves the point.

Courage for Every Day.

Goes nowhere.

Except to the sublime.

But you must work at it.

You just haven’t earned it yet, baby.

Maybe.

It’s not buddy holly.

But it bops along with capitalist incursion.

This isn’t Evald Schorm’s best work, but it showed his range.

For a first film, it’s damned good.

But it’s slow.

Not like slow cinema.

More like plodding.

Plotting clumsy Ulysses.

When all I ever want is Finnegans Wake.

Former makes too much sense.

For a first FICTION film.

Largely failure for first 50%.

And then the sublime emerges.

We’re not on TV anymore.

We’re in the realm of cinema.

And it’s a huge difference.

Time…to stretch out.

In which.

A bunch of boring communist functionaries.

Up against the magic of the feral masses.  Untamed.

Uneducated.  But free, almost.  Maybe.

Jana Brejchová just like Beth Behrs.

But there is heartbreak.

When she says, “Work it out for yourself.”

Something like that.

Human being lawnmower.

Morphs into Czech Breathless.  Existential vacuum of Antonioni.

He can’t be a normal person.

Because of the cause.

All causes are insane.

Including mine.

The cause…

Not to be confused with causal mechanism.

To be an idealist.  Circumspect.

There is no life outside commerce.  In the West.

We have lost.

But a sudden ray of hope…

Only defense against desperation.

Here I sit, over my Underwood.

Go talk to him…

He loves you.

Cook it and kill it!

Or vice versa.

At such a time that pulling rabbit from hat becomes the ultimate embarrassment.

Because ridicule has been wedged.

We are back to real films (if not standard criticism).

Can only be discussed in its own terms.

Every time.

Ekphrasis 24/7.  8 day s week.

Rachel Corrie is my inspiration.

As said Giles Corey:  “More weight!”

 

Twin Peaks “Slaves and Masters” [1991)

Twin Peaks was becoming really laborious by this point.

[I’m sure you know the feeling]

But it can’t really be blamed on Diane Keaton.

The director here.

Of this episode.

It’s true.

It’s as if the series knew it was not going to be extended.

But Keaton’s directing is alright.

Sure, there’s plenty of bathos.

But the story really became ludicrous.

In fact, very little was working by this point.

All of the storylines sucked.

Josie (bleh).

Windom Earle (really unnecessary).

David Warner (Eckhardt) [Rupert Murdoch].

Nadine.

For fuck’s sake.

At least Robert E. Lee was entertaining.

And so the greatest TV series in history was spinning itself out.

Somehow, some greedy bastards had disrupted the flow.

That much is obvious.

ABC gaveth, and ABC taketh away.

Mr. Tojamura was a short-lived recovery.

Can Twin Peaks turn it around in its final weeks?

We shall see.

 

-PD

Twin Peaks “Lonely Souls” [1990)

Holy shit.

New shoes.

New shoes.

That this ever made it on TV.

Good lord.

Goddamned genius!

The Pepsi/Coke challenge.

It was indeed David Lynch who directed this episode.

The scariest moment in American TV history.

Eclipsed.

Because the owls are not what they seem.

Truly possession.

It…would be a lot easier not to give a shit.

And so this isn’t a paranoid statement.

THe owls.  Everyman.  Conspiring for truth.

Histoire(s).

That the French gave the world film criticism.

But Hollywood provided Hitchcock with just the right concoction.

An unknown drug.

In my corner, I am meaningless.

So that we must know the giant.

Maybe the evil of the Bilderberg Hotel.

Carel Struycken.

But really the eveil of which we all know we are capable.

How’s that?

It is the family of man.

We learn from every source.

The genius of James Joyce.  Blind prematurely.  Scribbling.

What Beethoven called it.  The “late” quartets.

Not his own program.

Scratching.  Fiddling.  John Carson.

Looks like a “D” this time.

And should we be surprised?

It is the cosmology of drama.

No creators dared.

Till David Lynch and Mark Frost.

But Lynch proves who the real killer is.

Power center.

Category killer.

Television which shames cinema.

Never been scared reading a film review?

Think TV is pap?

I did too.  Never.

It means much more that I don’t give you the words easily.

What would be the healthy thing?

Harmony.  Community.

But we live in perpetual hell.

And so Baudelaire takes his place among urban poets.

Muck of milkshake.

If…we know the secret to illusion.

Then we are not as scared.

But the real thing is positively chilling.

Effect.

Several messes.

Remember Finnegan serialized.

Histoire(s) televised.

I am but a lonesome hobo.

Luke the drifter.

But we want our entertainment to contain everything.

And Hitchcock achieved it first.  And best.

Set limitless parameters.

So that Lynch could step in.

Nature morte.

Exquisite corpse.

The song doesn’t exist.

 

-PD

Twin Peaks “Laura’s Secret Diary” [1990)

There is an old chestnut of narrative theory…nay, more homespun wisdom…

The phrase “losing the plot”.

It can mean going crazy.

Perhaps that is its primary meaning.

But a very interesting thing happens when one applies the saying literally.

I sense that Twin Peaks was losing the plot around this time.

If you are alerted to such, you will know that the viewership for this show was declining around this time…a few episodes into the second (and final) season [not counting the reboot due soonish].

And it’s easy to see:  Season Two started with a bang (eclipsing the previous season’s finale).

Season 2, Episode 1:  19.1 million viewers.

S2, E2:  14.4

S2, E3:  13.7

And Season 2, Episode 4 (that which is under consideration):  12.8

“Tanking” might be a good word for it.

You might also remember (from a cursory search) that some “higher-ups” (ABC?) wanted the great mystery of the show wrapped up or resolved sooner than the show’s authors had wanted it revealed.

No episode during Season One had a viewership lower that 15.6 million.

But barring the bang of Season Two’s opener, the market dropped considerably (and precipitously) for Twin Peaks.

Looking ahead, I can tell you that things got worse before they got better.

Interest continued to wane for several more weeks.

And despite a brief “last stand”, the series’ “numbers” were of a show just creeping across the finish line.  [Comparatively speaking.]

This is the thinking of Benjamin Horne (Richard Beymer).

The big pick-up from West Side Story (1961).

But let’s back to this whole authorship thing.

What was David Lynch’s big contribution here?

He cowrote the first three episodes of Season One (with Mark Frost).

From an initial audience of 34.6 million viewers, the count declined to 23.2 and 19.2 in the corresponding weeks (respectively).

Of those same episodes, Lynch directed #s 1 and 3.

Season Two, Episode 1 (facts courtesy of Wikipedia) sees a new distinction in writing between “story” (by Lynch and Frost) and “teleplay” (by Frost alone).

Barring that initial episode of season two, Lynch has no more writing credits up to this point in the series.

Mr. Lynch did, however, direct episodes 1 and 2 of Season 2.

Quantitatively, this seems to indicate that David Lynch was 1.75-out-of-12 responsible for the show’s writing (so far) and 4-out-of-12 responsible for the direction.  That’s 14.6% of the writing and 33.3% of the direction.  Out of a 200% pie, normalled to 100…

That’s 24%.

Even auteur theory would credit Lynch with only 33% authorship of this series.

Granted, these numbers are for Lynch’s reputed contribution.  They are a snapshot of a moment in time.

In total, the original series (of 29 episodes) would include a mere six directed by David Lynch.

That’s an auteur theory contribution number of 20.7%.

Strangely, (barring the first episode of Season Two) David Lynch would not again be credited explicitly with any writing credit whatsoever.  Which means 1.75-out-of-29.

6% + 20.7% of a more holistic authorship pie (200%) would leave Lynch at:

about 13.4%.

All of this is to say that auteur theory is more kind to David Lynch with respect to Twin Peaks. 

And this episode is so utterly mundane that this was the best review I could manage.

 

-PD

Twin Peaks “The Man Behind Glass” [1990)

I’m guessing this episode might best be chalked up to studio interference.

We’ve seen it before.

Take the James Bond film Spectre.

One can feel the executive sabotage.

But here is a little different.

From a quick glance.

ABC (presumably) wanted Lynch and Co. to move things along.

Enough with this suspense.

Or perhaps that was yet to come.

Perhaps this episode is like recitative in opera.

It has to be there (upon a time), but we kinda want it to be over.

We want the arias.  The choruses.

There’s no Maria Callas disc of “best-loved recitatives”.

[Recitativi?]

Yes. sì.

Here we run into a sort of auteur theory for stories.

Or perhaps we are running into auteur theory in its purest form.

If we assume the brilliance of David Lynch (and Mark Frost), then we will blame Lesli Linka Glatter for daft direction here.

But we have previously praised Ms. Glatter.  She has the chops.

So what was the problem with this episode?

Did the material (Lynch and Frost) save Glatter’s direction?

[Did Glatter’s direction ruin Lynch and Frost’s writing?]

Or did Glatter save a mediocre piece of writing by Lynch and Frost?

That’s the problem of episodes.

Chunks.

TV is inherently cubist.

And stories are not conceived with interpolated commercial breaks.

That’s why the stories suffer.

On TV.

The medium is faulty.

The medium gives very little respect for the creations it airs.

But hey:  at least the message is getting out there!

McLuhan would point out that the orientation of space and time determines to the largest extent how we interpret television shows.

[Which is to say, “…the medium is the message.”]

I would have to agree.

And so we are left hanging.

Perhaps for the first time.

Usually we are looking forward to the next episode.

But this time we’re just annoyed.

Because the episode is not a self-contained satisfying unit of entertainment.

Not this time.

You win some, you lose some.

We still love the story.  And the characters.

But we could have done without some of the clumsy fluff.

That was, by the way, my initial concept.

For my website.

A descriptive coup.

Clumsy fluff.

 

-PD