Zander’s Weblog

Daniel C. Dennett’s book that explores the origins and evolution of religions. Since I was not his intended audience, it was a bit tedious wading through all the verbiage intended for the rigidly religious, who are unlikely to read the book in any case. Aside from that the book offered some interesting ideas concerning how religions evolved to the point they have today, the roles they fulfil, and how we might better shape them to function better in a global culture.

När alla vet in the original Norwegian. Based on a novel by Per Knutsen, it plays more like the author’s idyllic fantasy of what he would wish the coming-out experience to be than the actual reality typically encountered. Or is Norway different? The two main characters were pure A&F model material. The musical choices were hit or miss, and the attempt at avant-garde lighting (darkly lit scenes) was mostly a bust. Finally, our poor gay protagonist, although accepted by his friends and family, strikes out at love. 

Netflix has this as “Out of Hand”. A strange German film with distinctly homoerotic overtones that go nowhere. It depicts the relationship between two mid-teen boys, one towards the psychopathic spectrum and the other towards the oral. I give it kudos for casting, acting, sound, and basic cinematography, as well as for stepping just beyond reality. On the other hand, expect to be frustrated.

A light-weight though enjoyable documentary about the life and work of Howard Zinn. This film should be a good introduction for those unfamiliar with Zinn’s philosophy and work. The real gold is in reading his works.

Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes, is an early Werner Herzog masterpiece that still qualifies for that designation today. Once you get past the oddity of conquistadores speaking German, the rest is pure pleasure–from the stunning locations and cinematography to the archetypal themes. We are all floating down a river on a raft filled with monkeys.

Luc Besson’s film Léon is a confection. With great, fun-to-watch actors, a high body count, and a thick slab of Nabakovian titillation, one has little time to reflect on how completely preposterous the story and characters are.

A quirky gay-student-coping-with-high-school movie. Only the high school is an “International High School” some where in Europe (actually shot in a stunning school in Belgium), and uses a fair amount of local talent to supplement the Hollywood protagonist. So even the setting is disembodied from reality. This film will probably appeal to alt-high school students who by now, hopefully, know that only a (small?) minority of gay people are motivated to perform or consume drag performances! Production quality is “Disney” made-for-TV fluff.

An excellent coming-of-age film. Well acted, pulls no punches, and doesn’t feel compelled to gloss over or clean up messy situations. On the other hand, like most films with gay characters, it feels compelled to portray things like highway rest-stop bathroom sex as de rigueur. In my opinion this was unnecessary and potentially misleading for a younger audience.