Depressive List

In the last four months or so I watched quite a number of films, but reviewed only a fraction. The reasons for that were many, but I still feel bad about it. Some of those films were obscure, some were well-known and some were quite remarkable.

The Triangle (2001), directed by William Lustig
Cruel and Unusual, starring Tom Berenger
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Fine mrtve djevojke (Nice Dead Girls)
Vampires 2: Los Muertos
Red Dragon
Caveman’s Valentine
Tilsammans
Black Hawk Down
Royal Tennenbaums
Road to Perdition
Die Krüger und die Kaiserin
D-Tox
Meltdown
From Hell
China Strike Force
K-Pax
Slap Shot (1976)
Insomnia (2002)
Mean Machine (2001)
The Art of War
Abril Despedaçado (Behind the Sun)
The Time Machine (2002)
Queen of the Damned (2001)
Fatal Attraction (on DVD, with audio-commentary)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Behind Enemy Lines
Sweet Home Alabama

In the next days and weeks (months) I’ll try to write at least few words about each of them.

The World Has Changed

For better or worse, it is hard to tell. But only a decade ago few people could have believed that the South Koreans of all people would object to their northern Communist neighbours being portrayed as villains in the latest Bond film. First the North Korean government officially attacked the film, than various pressure groups in the South called for boycott, and the latest word (from what I’ve heard on CNN) is that the South Korean cinema owners decided to pull Die Another Day from the theatres.

This is probably the most obvious symptom of the rising anti-Americanism in the world. This phenomenon manifests even in the country that owes its very existence to U.S. military might. On the other hand, South Koreans’ newly discovered dislike of Americans and their military presence on the Peninsula has some more rational basis. After half a century of uneasy peace, South Koreans believe that they have found formula for permanent peaceful co-existence with their Communist neighbours and they also believe that this peace brought economic prosperity to their country. But nowadays, this peaceful co-existence could be jeopardised if USA and North Korea go on collision course over North Korean nuclear programme. Even in the plain vanilla conventional war Seoul could be easily turned into another Grozny, and North Korean nuclear capabilities makes the prospect of another Korean War even grimmer. So, anything that could jeopardise peace is viewed as contrary to the interests of South Korean people – both the unwise remarks about “axis of Evil” and Bond films.