contrarian quarterly

Bush, Condi and Corporate Cronies Declare War on World

The woman presiding over national security on 9/11 - after she ignored specific warnings from the CIA, Richard Clark and Gary Hart among others about Al Queda flying planes into buildings on US soil - could be held personally responsible for the towers' collapse; the deaths, destruction and economic devastation 9/11 incurred; and the war in which the US is now headily pitched which apparently avenges that attack. However Condi's criminal negligence has been extremely profitable for the military-banking complex she represents. No wonder she has been slated to become secretary of state.

Do have a peek at this adroit little film on the subject.

Stephen J. Hadley, who President Bush picked Tuesday to to replace Dr. Rice as national security advisor, worked for both Cheney and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz during President George H.W. Bush's administration. He has argued for broadening the use of nuclear weapons to include deterrence against "weapons of mass destruction." Can you imagine if they'd tried to destroy Iraq's "WMD" reserves with nukes?

Heaven's Gate Rereleased

Don't miss the big screen version of notorious epic western Heaven's Gate. The $54M film - the most expensive ever, when made in 1980 - sank its studio, United Artists. However, extrordinary cinematography and historical attention to detail, c. 1890 Wyoming, as well as stellar performances by Isabelle Huppert and Kris Kristopherson make it's harsh critical panning all but incomprehensible. We did it in two sittings, the second of which is only an hour and a bit, and would also advise the documentary about the film, based on the book Final Cut. Charts how the film's brilliance and its flaws get ignored by critics' moralistic damning of directorial excess. At Film Forum for a couple more days, simultaneously with Tarnation, whose production (au contraire) cost an alleged $218.

Do you remember celluloid?

It's one thing to see blinking images of war culled from digital TV broadcasts, but the full color celluloid images of amputees trying on new prosthetic limbs as war profiteers proclaim treasure-to-be and coffin makers explaining the small ones (for children) as a U.S. General justifies death ("The Oriental doesnt put the same high price on life as the Westerner") - these have a different impact.

Shot on location in SouthEast Asia, France and the US ages before the idea of 'embedded' journalists, Hearts and Minds won the 1974 Oscar for documentaries. An amalgam of news reports, stock footage and striking, original color film, this is the kind of movie no one forgets. "If I were to pick the one film that inspired me to pick up a camera, it is Hearts and Minds, a film that remains every bit as relevant today," said Michael Moore.

Director Peter Davis captured gangly, indifferent airmen as they visited a Saigon brothel. A South Vietnamese ex-president-cum-Paris restaurateur told how the U.S. made him quit. An ex-French Foreign Minister revealed that the U.S. offered his country two A-Bombs to solve the Indochina problem. After 30 years all prints had faded, but Academy Film Archives' two-year restoration has brought Hearts and Minds back to its original state for a return to theaters.

Davis and Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation President Bobby Muller will be present for a preview screening and discussion in Washington DC on Saturday, October 16 at 7:30pm at the AFI Silver. The two will be joined by cinematographer Richard Pearce for the opening at New York's Film Forum on Friday, October 22 for the 7:30 show and available for Q&As afterwards.