On the surface, “Incredibles 2” seems like entertaining family hokum. The characters of the Incredibles themselves, especially the mom and Dad characters voiced by Holly Hunter and Craig T. Nelson, are well-written and entertaining. There are some action scenes, especially the one at the end, that are done well. That doesn’t excuse the film’s mistakes. First of all, having Samuel L. Jackson clearly play himself is distracting and took me out of the picture. Secondly, the mom is so much better than the dad at everything, from being a superhero to menial housework and raising the kids that the film comes off as bizarrely anti-male. Thirdly, I know this is a kids’ picture, but the motivation of the villainess makes absolutely no sense. In the film, superheroes are illegal and unpopular. So why
Superfly Remake Lacks Moral Compass
Superfly, the 1970’s blackploitation film, has been remade by Sony. It basically has a rap video director, who has made a two hour long gangster rap video out of the funky soul classic. It is pretty entertaining at first. The main character is flamboyant, with a wacky hairdo that gets the chicks. This brotha would rather have two average looking babes with him, chicks with big asses and pear shaped figures. They aren’t really super hot though, since the really hot ones would fight over each other too much, instead of getting in the shower with him. He has one latina and one black girl. That part of the movie was original. But he is selling drugs, and doesn’t have any really good motivation, not even love. It is also hard to root for the main character, since he betrays his mentor, who introduced him to the drug racketeering game. He steals his mentor’s connects, then lies about things, resulting in his mentor getting whacked. There is a rival (drug dealing) gang that wears only white and has all white cars. A lot of real rappers seem to have been cast in the film as braindead thugs and sidekicks. The Superfly dude has a kinda ok martial arts training scene with his mentor, but it is just ok , not amazing like a Tony Jaa scene (for instance). As the movie continues, stay prepared for some plot twists, but all the while you wonder: who cares about all these drug dealing thugs? And the women in the movie aren’t that hot. The music isn’t that good. The acting , for the most part, isn’t that good.
In short, this movie is a microcosm of a soulless culture. People doing drugs for no reason – not even seeming to be having much fun! They are doing drugs , not to go on a spiritual journey, or to help provoke some new great musical inspiration. No one seems to have any passion for anything but dealing drugs and getting money. And none of the characters seem to be happy. So why are they doing what they do? From watching this film, it seems like a lot of the gangster behavior is simply meant to fill a role or stereotype. These people are overly image conscious. As is our modern society. Modern society is too often a soulless fight for economic survival. People project false images in order to network and stay empowered, rather than on merit. These are all corroding factors as urban society decays all around us. Movies like this wrongly praise the decay, and fail to question it. Therefor, what does the outcome of the movie even matter? Drugs and street crime are an inevitability. Are they really that interesting.
A main character in a film such as this needs a better background story explaining his motivation for crime, or else it needs to frame the main character as a bad guy.
The Silver Chain Gang
Hey there fellow silver bug. Are you tired of being stuck working on the silver chain gang? Silver has been doing pretty crappy for the last years or so, having peaked around $50 an ounce after the 08 financial meltdown, and having seen a low of $14 last year. When will silver break free of this prison range between $14 and $18 an ounce?? Soon…
Silver works as a hedge against inflation and is cyclical. The government has purposely under-reported inflation for the past several years, in an effort to not have to pay for rises in the cost of living for social security and the like. Meanwhile, inflation has been rather obvious in home prices, car prices (used car prices are up 17 percent last year alone), food prices (steak for instance), etc. Finally, we have gotten to the point where the official stats say we are near full employment – meaning, that those seeking jobs actively basically have them already. This is a late point in the economic (business cycle) where metals and industrials traditionally outperform. As the job market tightens, wages will finally rise. Corporate earnings are also at all time highs. The Trump Boom is only starting. As wages and inflation pick up in the next year or two , the government will not be able to hide from the fact. Inflation will finally have to be acknowledged, and this will result in demand for silver, which maintains its buying power in such periods.
The other thing is that scrap metal recycling from pawn shops and the like has steadily declined and is now near record lows. Meanwhile, cell phone and electronic sales at companies like Apple and Sony remain strong, and those devices consume silver. Solar panels are on the rebound, and that also uses tons of silver.
Technically, silver set a strong base last year around $14.50 per ounce. It likes to go up to $17.30 or so and then back down to $16.00. It has been stuck in this pattern for a few years, and many silver investors are quite frustrated. Fortunately, for those with a very long term view and lots of patience, this has been a good time to accumulate silver coins and bars on the cheap.
I advise to stay away from smaller individual gold and silver stocks at this time, due to dilution, though some that trade over $10 a share could be good deals in the long term. My advice is to go with silver coins at this time. The Mexican silver Libertad is extremely popular with collectors at the moment , due to its beauty and its fine made qualities. Coins from the Perth Mint in Australia are exquisite, and tend to double in value every 5-10 years. Silver coins from small islands such as the Cook Islands, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Fiji, and more are a great way to go since they are low mintage and grand to look at. Also I recommend old world silver coins such as old swiss coins in uncirculated condition , as well as one year types such as the 1958 Canadian Totem Dollar, otherwise known as the Totem of Death.
I did well investing in coins back in 1999-2000 and sold after the recession in 2001 for a good profit. Then I collected again and sold after the 08 financial meltdown caused silver to spike a year or two later. So I have a good track record and am fairly confident that silver is still a good long term investment. It trades inversely to FANG and the overall economy though. So it wont shoot completely through the roof until the inflation turns into hyper-inflation (due to government spending and debt), and then really does great during a COLLAPSE.
Re: Immigration Controversy
Today Mrs. Trump wore a Jacket which said’ I do not care, do U?’ on the back, while getting off Air Force One. People are bewildered why she would wear that jacket on the same day she is touring immigration detention centers. Mrs. Trump is simply pointing out the hypocrisy of the media and the left, who never do anything to help actually solve the immigration problem, since they simply want to flood the country with illegals. USA is currently apprehending roughly 600k illegal border crossers (annually). Those who are coming for jobs could already have obtained a work permit for agriculture. Instead, many are choosing to come here for the welfare magnet. In the old days, when Italians and Irish flooded in through Ellis Island, there was not a large welfare state. The churches were where food for the poor was obtained (through charity). Today, we see too many illegals entering and taking valuable entry level jobs, as well as putting many municipalities in the red (when combined with rising public pension costs).
Americans are not mean spirited. We legally admit more immigrants LEGALLY than most of the other nations on earth combined. The problem is that the left is playing a shell game of pretending they want security and borders, meanwhile they make every action they do just the opposite. They play propaganda of little children of detained illegal immigrants crying in detention centers on prime time news for minutes on end, which is nothing short of a psychological brainwashing technique. Many Americans are having their welfare reduced, or seeing their job prospects reduced, or conversely are being taxed to death to fund a jail system full of many violent criminals and drug dealers, many of whom are illegals , and do not belong in the country.
On the one hand, we need to appreciate the hard work and American patriotism that many people who originated from Mexico show. And there is a lot of common history between US , Mexico, and Spain. And it is true that in agriculture and other areas , a lot of immigration is needed. But on the other hand, there is too much illegal entry. There is too much drug use in the Latino community, along with gang violence, which needs to be reduced. Overall, we need to increase the number of legal farm workers coming in , to more rural communities which need them. And we need less illegals coming in for welfare with kids , who often illegally claim asylum.
The other issue which will have to be addressed are the number of Visas issued to Mexico by the US. The majority of illegals come in legally and overstay their Visas. I feel the number of visas issues should be greatly curtailed. Finally, there is the issue of the dreamers, which is an especially tough issue. From what I have seen firsthand, it seems like most of the Dreamers are able to obtain permanent resident status anyways, which sidesteps the issue.
The MSM has done an amazing job of trying to appear to be non-partisan on the immigration issue over the years. Trump has done something brilliant , along with his wife. He has trolled the media on immigration . The result is that the media has now shown its true colors as being radically pro open-borders and pro-illegal immigration. This is a WIN for Trump.
Trump has started to drain the swamp. Next he has started to take on the immigration issue. Finally , I predict he will soon take on the Amazon and FANG monopolies. I am keeping an eye on the NK situation as well. But I think the real fireworks will be in Syria, and Trump may eventually have had it with ‘animal’ Assad,
Hereditary is Just ‘Too Much’
The new horror hit “Hereditary” is either one of the scariest
slow-burn thrillers since “Rosemary’s Baby” or an incomprehensible
piece of supernatural gobbledygook. Despite the skill of the
direction and the fact that the film sort of hangs together, I’m going
with the latter. The film involves a family of four (led by Toni
Collette and Gabriel Byrne) who are dealing with the death of the
eccentric (or batshit crazy!) matriarch. Although at first the family
tries to go on with their lives as normal, it soon becomes impossible
to do so. There is a tragic death and it becomes clear that
supernatural forces are going to do their best to destroy the family.
The film involves grave desecration, séances that are all too
effective, hallucinations, ghostly visitations, decapitations, car
accidents, sleepwalking, embarrassing confessions, all-too realistic
miniatures, crazy speeches, possession, and dire Satanic mischief. It
isn’t dull, and Byrne and (especially) Collette give excellent,
heartbreaking performances. But as the film heads toward its demonic,
upsetting conclusion it becomes too much to take. Some of the
individual scenes are very frightening and use scare tactics I’ve
never seen before. But the ending of the film is too far-flung to
justify the film’s serious tone and great acting. It turns out that
the movie we’ve been watching for more than two hours is just a sort
of grand cosmic joke. It’s too much, and although the hardcore horror
fans will want to check it out, “Hereditary” is just too weird for
general audiences. “A Quiet Place,” which also is experimental but
which has a much less histrionic story, is much better.
Pardon Manafort and Cohen NOW
Every time something criminal comes out about the FBI or the left, the left simply jails Mueller or indicts more ‘Russians’. Trump should pardon Manafort for the ‘witness tampering’ charge. Manafort has not been convicted of anything, and he has the right to freely associate with others until such time. PARDON MANAFORT and COHEN IMMEDIATELY.
Moreover , it is time to have DOJ weigh ‘conspiracy’ charges against Mueller and Comey, and their minions, who are WAY out of line, and are intent on punishing Trump’s former campaign team, simply because crooked Hillary lost. Trump should threaten to put them under ‘private persons arrest’ if DOJ does not act.
Ukraine is a western styled democracy, and frankly there is nothing wrong with Manafort having worked on the presidential campaign there. The media has NOT explained what law Manafort actually broke. The lobbying charge is certainly not worthy of a life sentence. Maybe worth a fine, if anything. The US government (McCain and others) did tons of work behind the scenes in Ukraine. If Manafort has to go to jail , so should all the CIA spooks involved there, along with Vitaly Klitchko (the boxer who helped start the revolution there).
Hillary and Bill did tons of quid pro quo lobbying while she served as Sec. of State, raking in millions in contributions, while she purposely left America’s top secrets on her personal computer, in order for foreign nations to be able to steal the documents in exchange for the contributions.
Absurd Show Dogs Controversy
I went to see this kids flick about a dog show, since I had heard of a ridiculous controversy surrounding the film, and wanted to see for myself. The movie had been recalled from over a thousand theatres, due to the fact that at one point I a dog contest, the judge warns a dog that he will have to inspect the dog’s genitals. So he tells the dog to go to ‘his happy place.’ Reading more about the controversy, I learned that it is factual that show dog judges do inspect the dog’s private parts as standard operating procedure for whatever reason. This movie is still showing at my local theatre, though it was pulled from many others. It was actually a pretty decent and harmless flick overall. I find it amusing that conspiracy sites, many with similar suspicions as my own normally, went so overboard trashing this rather innocuous film, over a fairly harmless scene that if you went to take a leak or get more popcorn – you would miss. No, this movie was not made by the Illuminati, in order to get your child to be ready for weird pseudo-sexual Satanic rituals. Sorry to disappoint you!
The movie was actually pretty funny. A cop (played by Will Arnett) has to infiltrate a dog show to save a baby panda and other keep dogs from being endangered or killed. In order to accomplish this, he needs his Rottweiler partner named Max (voiced by Chris “Ludacris” Bridges un a bravura turn) to make it deep into a dog show and try to win so the cop can stop the animal-exploiting villains. There is m lot of humor about how ill-suited Max is both as a dog show contestant and in terms of socializing with other dogs, The other dogs all have strong, hilarious personalities and as a result the film is far better than expected. The director made “The Smurfs” and “Scooby-Doo,” so that should give you some idea of what to expect. It’s no world-beater but it’s good enough to rate as solid family entertainment. Take your kid to see “Show Dogs” and don’t believe the naysayers!
Hotel Artemis is a Fine Mess
So you’ve seen “Upgrade” hate Hollywood blockbusters, and are
looking for something to see, “Hotel Artemis” should do the trick. It
is a sci-fi neo-noir heist action picture set in L.A. in 2028 during
the “worst riot in history.” Two criminals, one seriously injured,
have just pulled off a heist and unknowingly taken a pen with a chip
in it Artemis comes in. A secret hospital and hotel for especially
qualified criminal “members,” the hotel is run by Jodie Foster in
old-age makeup with assistance from scene-stealing Dave Bautista. It’s
a rough night for the hotel which gets even trickier when a wounded
cop Foster knows turns up at the hotel. Other guests include Sofia
Boutella (Razzie-nominated as as the mummy in “The Mummy” but fine
here) as an assassin, Charlie Day as an arms dealer, and eventually
Jeff Goldblum as a crime boss called The Wolf King and Zachary Quinto
as his son. All of these characters face off against each other and
assorted others as L.A. falls into ruins and nobody is safe. As
revelations about Foster’s character take center stage and a ticking
time bomb enters the plot, what will become of these characters and
the city of Los Angeles?
So this film is a mash-up of “Hudson Hawk,” (in the opening
heist) “Blade Runner,” (the futuristic setting), “The Purge,” (L.A. a
lawless hellhole), “Assault on Precinct 13,” (the siege aspect), and
of course the “John WicK” series (with its hospital for killers). The
surprise is how well it all works. You would think there would be no
one to root for but the actors are good enough to sustain interest.
Dave Bautista, from “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Blade Runner 2049,”
turns in a particularly good performance as Foster’s muscle-bound
sidekick. His character gives the audience an in. Foster and
Goldblum are miscast but still deliver good performances, especially
when playing off each other. The director, Drew Pearce (writer of
“Iron Man 3”), is good at establishing and maintaining tension and the
parts of the film depicting the future (such as the use of a 3D
printer to create deadly weapons) work surprisingly well. Only the
McGuffin, the pen worth $18 million) falls flat. “Hotel Artemis” is
quirky sci-fi fun, the low-budget thriller we didn’t know we needed. I
definitely recommend it!, and a double feature with “Upgrade” would be
ideal!
NIN Add Violence Review
This was a solid 2017 release. The first track, called Less Than, is critical of people and society’s need to vent and project aggressive behavior on others. Trent is saying people pretend they are forced to act aggressively in order to survive, when it reality it is one’s choice to be violent.
The Lovers starts off sounding like a hodge podge hot mess. The vocals come in and the singer starts to bring the puzzle pieces together. The beat never really comes in, though the song goes for a few minutes. It is kind of a puzzling and haunting song. I that perhaps think he is talking about how love and relationships provide a refuge from the dark meaninglessness of life. The instruments weave interesting textures around each other. I would say the overall timbre is somewhat demur.
This Isn’t The Place doesn’t have many lyrics. The beat is kinda slow and dreary, not unlike a Portishead tune. I think the lyrics are about mortality, perhaps about vice. The chord patterns are somewhat bluesy by comparison to the other tracks. The beat has a bit of a swing to it.
Not anymore opens with a heavily distorted bassline. Then it opens up with an up-beat industrial beat. I think this song is intended to more reflect his earlier material. He even says,” I will never forget who I am,” at one point in the song. Because this song is faster, it offsets some of the other slower material on the album, and provides balance. There is a cool break, with some envelope filters and some tweeker sounds, before jumping back in with a more aggressive rhythm and vocals. He also says “He can’t seem to wake up”. This is a repeated theme throughout the album, that society is asleep at the wheel, and doesn’t know where its going. Trent seems to not like modernity very much, and is screaming in denial against the new reality, while calling on others to wake up and join him in the fight against technology. Which is ironic, since he used a lot of EDM programming etc, however his music has always had a soul, unlike many others. I would compare him art to a failed technological messiah , not unlike Tesla, who Edison beat out.
The Background World is kind of an existential realist song. It talks about awakening and accepting things as they are , with no allusions. He writes about the lack of a sense of purpose in modern society , which plagues this era. The song has a cool futuristic stomp type groove, not unlike the Daft Punk main theme from the more recent Tron movie. He asks, “Are you sure this is what you want?” I think he is being satirical and sarcastic. Part of the theme of his albums has been that technology is leading humanity towards some sort of great abyss, meanwhile our spirituality is suffering, and we are being reduced to treating each other like animals, instead of as human beings. The song continues for a really long time, before gradually distorting and turning almost unlistenable. Quite an interesting way to wind down an album.
Overall, it is a fairly haunting and beautiful album, which reflects man’s transitional state in a futuristic society, with all of its moral implications.
Upgrade This
In the midst of all the hype for big movies like “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Deadpool 2,” and “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” it would be easy to overlook the little Blumhouse sci-fi thriller “Upgrade”. That would be a mistake because “Upgrade” is much better than these more highly hyped films.
It centers around a not-too-distant future in which a man (Logan Marshall-Green) and his wife are brutalized (and in her case, killed) by street toughs after an auto-functioning car malfunction lands them in the wrong side of town. When he gets his consciousness back, he is a quadriplegic, and his only hope for revenge and an interesting life is to have a secret STEM (or sentient computer) chip implanted in his brain. All of the sudden, he’s basically got a HAL-9000 type computer that only he can hear interacting with him and controlling his movements. He discovers that he can find his tormenters and get revenge, but at what cost?
This film is basically a mash-up of “Blade Runner,” “The Terminator,” “Hardcore Henry,” and a really interesting nightmare. It adds up to more than the sum of its parts because writer-director Whinnell (creator of the “Saw” and “Insidious” franchises) has an original and (yes!) insidious sensibility that gets under your skin.
The film is action-packed, surprising, and funny because it’s so violent and has so many twists. By the end, we’ve been put through the wringer, and we have to credit the director for making us care so much and get so many laughs out of what could have turned out to be a routine thriller. The best sci-fi action film out right now is definitely “Upgrade,” and no genre fan should miss it under any circumstances!