Civil service reviewer

Mark Jenkin ’s 2019 film Bait had the rare distinction of being a genuine out-of-the-blue discovery, featuring heavily on UK critics’ year-best lists after a modest arthouse release by the BFI. The black-and-white film’s experimental style was emphasized in all its press coverage, nodding to avant-garde auteurs like Stan Brakhage, Derek Jarman and Guy Maddin — all directors who are interested in the literal grain of film and video (indeed, Jenkin reportedly developed the negative with coffee and washing soda then distressed the image by hand). Throw in post-synch sound, and you have a film more likely to screen to two people and a dog at a smoky underground 1960s cine-club than win a BAFTA. For all its formal intricacies, though, Bait had a very traditional narrative, being the story of a Cornish fisherman who sees his village becoming gentrified after selling his house to a couple of rich out-of-towners. Enys Men , Jenkin’s Directors’ Fortnight entry here in … [Read more...] about Cannes Review: Mark Jenkin’s ‘Enys Men’

Watching the Cannes Un Certain Regard opening film Father and Soldier ( Tirailleurs ), directed by Mathieu Vadepied, was a struggle. I didn’t know that France kidnapped men from their colonies and forced them into the war (which I am embarrassed to admit). Sitting in the theater, I expected to learn, but between the presented ideas and the lack of strong execution, Vadepied and Olivier Demangel’s script feels hollow and inauthentic. They cram in so many details instead of finding a focus and expanding from there. The film starts with Bakary (Omar Sy) and Thierno (Alassane Diong)in their home country of Senegal, where they work as Cow herders. They are aware that the French military has been kidnapping young Senegalese men and sending them to Europe to fight for France in World War I. As they try to escape the draft, they are caught anyway and forced to leave their family for a war they didn’t sign up for. From the first day they arrive in Europe, … [Read more...] about Cannes Review: Mathieu Vadepied’s ‘Father And Soldier’

With civil liberties in America under attack, those willing to fight to obtain them could learn a thing or two from the Patricio Guzmán documentary My Imaginary Countr y ( Mi Pais Imaginario ) about the Chilean protest of 2019. The people of Chile are fighting for the same things folks in the USA are. The only difference is that the Chilean people NEVER took their foot off the necks of their oppressors and successfully achieved their goal. Guzmán shows the duality of war, how it breeds anger and violence but also creativity, ingenuity, hope. He archives varying perspectives and allows the Chilean public to speak for themselves. The protest were non-violent at first, but things escalated when President Pinera called a state of emergency and sent in military troops to disburse people in the street, and in response, protestors destroyed public property. These protests are considered Chile’s worst period of civil unrest since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. In … [Read more...] about Cannes Review: Patricio Guzmán’s ‘My Imaginary Country’ Chronicles The Chilean Protest Of 2019

SPOILER ALERT: This review contains details of tonight’s Star Trek Discovery debut. Having started a bit later tonight on CBS than planned due to NFL overruns, Star Trek Discovery aims to boldly take CBS All Access on a new subscriber rich adventure. After all the behind-the-camera drama, delays, secrecy and hype for the Sonequa Martin-Green -led 15-episode first season, Discovery has finally taken off. It’s a launch Leslie Moonves hopes will result in a signup windfall for CBS’ nearly 3-year-old streaming service CBS All Access. After all, Discovery is the  first new small-screen installment of the Gene Roddenberry-created franchise since Enterprise premiered in 2001. And Moonves’ plan just might work. Despite its often over-explanatory scripts, jittery direction, scattered plot points, silly Beatles, Chuck Yeager and Amelia Earhart shout-outs, Discovery is conventional and solidly satisfying serialized TV that speaks to our times, as … [Read more...] about ‘Star Trek Discovery’ Review: Sonequa Martin-Green Show Solid But Thrusters Not Activated Yet For All Access’ Big Jump

After she ascended to the Competition last year with Bergman Island , it’s bittersweet to see Mia Hansen-Løve back in the ranks of Directors’ Fortnight. On the one hand, it’s a testament to her versatility that she can switch back and forth so adeptly, but at the same time, it’s a little galling to see women’s stories apparently banished from the Official Selection when so many bromances make the cut every year. That’s not to say that One Fine Morning has anything radical to offer — the story of a single mother falling in love with her late husband’s (married) friend, it won’t win any prizes for advancing the feminist cause — but it does offer a very thoughtful character sketch, composed around what might be a career-best role for underused Bond star Léa Seydoux. Watch A Clip From Mia Hansen-Løve’s ‘One Fine Morning’ Starring Lea Seydoux Seydoux plays Sandra, a supremely stylish Paris mother who lives alone with her young daughter. Sandra works as a translator, … [Read more...] about Cannes Review: Léa Seydoux In Mia Hansen-Løve’s ‘One Fine Morning’

The hard right’s takeover of the Supreme Court is real, and is having real consequences. But despite that leaked decision that would overturn Roe, this takeover isn’t just about abortion, and it’s not just about the Supreme Court. In fact, Trump-appointed judges at all levels of the judiciary are remaking nearly every aspect of American law, from voting rights to environmental regulations, police accountability to LGBTQ and women’s equality. There are also a lot of these judges. In four years, the Trump administration put a record 226 life-tenure federal judges on the bench. And while these judges don’t make the headlines like the Supreme Court does, they are already transforming our country, a little bit at a time. Perhaps most important, they will be there many, many years. Because Trump’s minions chose the youngest cohort of judges in recorded history, some of these people are in their thirties and forties. That means they could still be on the bench in 40, even 50 years — … [Read more...] about MAGA Law: How the Trump Judges Twist U.S. Justice

With less than a week to go before jury selection starts in Judy Huth’s sexual battery case against Bill Cosby , the disgraced comedian’s lawyers made a last-ditch attempt Tuesday to kill her long-delayed California civil case on the grounds that she recently shifted the date of his alleged attack at the Playboy Mansion by an entire year. They did not succeed. In a new sworn statement submitted under seal last week and described by Cosby’s lawyer Jennifer Bonjean in open court, Huth substantially revised the timeline of her underlying allegation , saying new information caused her to believe Cosby lured her to the Playboy Mansion for the alleged attack in either February or March of 1975, when she was 16 years old. Huth had previously claimed it was either late 1973 or early 1974 when Cosby used his celebrity status to isolate her in a bedroom inside the home of magazine mogul Hugh Hefner, kiss her on the mouth, slide his hand down her pants and use her hand to perform a sex … [Read more...] about Bill Cosby Fails to Derail May 23 Trial, Calls Accuser’s Changed Timeline an ‘Ambush’

In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection, the FBI told Congress and the American people that the agency had failed to prevent or fully prepare for the worst attack on the U.S. Capitol in more than 200 years in part because it lacked the authority and capabilities to more aggressively monitor social media, where much of the planning for the insurrection took place. As FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress last summer, the FBI had circulated intelligence materials and other resources before Jan. 6, but the agency had limits in what it could and couldn’t gather from social media. “When we have an authorized purpose and proper predication, there are a lot of things that we do at social media and we do do,” Wray said, “but [what] we cannot do on social media is, without proper predication and authorized purpose, just monitor just in case on social media.” Wray added, “Now, if the policies should be changed to reflect that, that might be one of the important lessons … [Read more...] about FBI Documents Expose Bureau‘s Big Jan. 6 ‘Lie‘

Chris Brown has been named in a lawsuit filed by a woman who alleges that she was sexually assaulted at the singer’s California home by Brown’s friend. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of “Jane Doe” by lawyer Gloria Allred, claims that the “young woman” was raped several times at Brown’s home by Lowell Grissom, a rapper who performs under the names Young Lo and EverybodyKnowsLo. “The lawsuit alleges that while she was at Brown’s house, plaintiff became the victim of horrific sexual assaults which are described in our lawsuit,” Allred said in a statement. “That is why we have filed this case today alleging sexual battery, gender violence, a violation of Ralph Civil Rights Act, battery, assault, interference with the exercise of civil rights, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.” Doe also alleges that another woman – named Doe X in the lawsuit as the plaintiff has yet to ascertain the woman’s name – physically forced Jane Doe into giving her oral sex. … [Read more...] about Chris Brown Sued Over Alleged Sexual Assault at His Home

Bill Maher can’t understand what has happened to the world he once knew, as he lamented during Friday’s Real Time on HBO. Several times during the show, an exasperated Maher threw up his hands and questioned the craziness of life in these United States. Cases in point: “It used to be a liberal thing to be suspicious of defense contractors,” he said during a discussion of the decision to send $40 billion to Ukraine. Later, during a discussion about the kvetching over Elon Musk’s Twitter bid, “Free speech was important to liberals in this country at one time.” In his closing rant, he complained about “The audacity of it all,” noting it appears there are no lines that can’t be crossed, like running on stage during a live show (a la Dave Chappelle’s recent brush with a nut), or messing with Mike Tyson. “Who needs the metaverse when you can do whatever you want in real life?” Maher asked. He noted that 11 Walgreens and six CVS stores have closed in San Francisco in the … [Read more...] about Bill Maher Laments About A Liberal World That Seems To Be Going Mad In ‘Real Time’ Takes