Tag: film

A very thorough review of the classic Italian film – and novel – The Leopard:

Luchino Visconti’s masterpiece is his 1963 historical epic The Leopard (Il Gattopardo, which actually refers to a smaller spotted wild cat, the serval, which is the heraldic animal of the Princes of Salina in Sicily). Visconti’s film is a remarkably faithful adaptation of the 1958 novel of the same name by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. The Leopard became the best-selling Italian novel of all time, carrying off many critical laurels as well. In its beauty of language, philosophical depth, and emotional power, The Leopard is one of the greatest novels I have ever read, and Visconti’s film does it full justice. Both are works of genius.

Set during the Risorgimento, the unification of Italy into a modern nation-state, The Leopard is sometimes called “the Italian Gone with the Wind,” which is an apt comparison, although The Leopard is better both as a book and a film. Like Gone with the Wind, The Leopard is a historical romance set against the backdrop of a war of national unification in which a modern, bourgeois-liberal industrial society (the Northern Kingdom of Piedmont and Sardinia, ruled from Turin by the House of Savoy), triumphs over a feudal, agrarian aristocracy (the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, encompassing Sicily and Southern Italy and ruled from Naples by the house of Bourbon). Even the time period is basically the same. The novel The Leopard is set primarily in 1860–62, and the film takes place entirely in this time frame.

The story begins in May of 1860, when Giuseppe Garibaldi, a charismatic nationalist general, raised an insurgent force of 1000 volunteers and landed in Sicily to overthrow the Bourbons. The Garibaldini fought for no king or parliament. They fought for the nationalist idea. They fought for a unified Italy that did not yet exist.

Garibaldi fought his way to Palermo, declared himself dictator, then raised new troops to take the fight to the mainland, where he overthrew the last Bourbon king, Francis II. Then Garibaldi handed the kingdom over to king Victor Emanuel of Piedmont and Sardinia and retired into private life. Plebiscites were held throughout Italy, except in Venice, which was under Austrian rule. All of Italy, save the Papal States, agreed to unification under the House of Savoy. In 1862, Garibaldi raised an army to march on Rome and forcibly incorporate the Papal States, but he was stopped by troops loyal to the new unified kingdom.

Lampedusa was a Sicilian aristocrat and a partisan of aristocracy. As a study of classical aristocratic virtues, The Leopard can be placed alongside Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. As a meditation on the decline of aristocracy into oligarchy, it can be placed alongside Plato’s Republic. Visconti, however, was both an aristocrat and a self-professed Communist. Thus his adaptation also highlights other aspects of the novel, dramatizing how the revolutionary energies unleashed by the ideas of the sovereign people and a unified national state were coopted by the old Italian aristocracy and corrupted by the rising middle classes.

The Leopard is very much the Italian Gone With the Wind. I’ve read it twice, and I highly recommend the novel to anyone. I haven’t seen the film yet, but I intend to do so soon. Read the whole review there.

And, by the looks of it, it is succeeding:

A new rumor suggests J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson’s The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi movies were supposed to reboot the entire Star Wars franchise.

The source told Buechler:

“Rian was not just randomly writing a story nor was JJ. JJ’s job was to create a in-canon reboot like the 2009 movie and introduce the new characters. Rian’s job was to kill off the originals and then you were suppose to not notice it was rebooted. Each was given the outline to make it and what the points were. So now you know why. Disney did not want to pay a license fee and by end of it all looked different and was a new copyright under the old name. They even changed the Falcon to be different. But the orders was in the end to leave nothing original.”

The source added:

“There is this just quick. There was always one plan. After the reaction to The Last Jedi, the decision was made to bring in J.J. to fix the plan he laid out and they threw Rian under the bus. This is why they said Rian might get his own trilogy. They just didn’t expect the backlash to be as toxic as it was and consequently Solo flopped.”

The belief is that Disney owes some kind of licensing fees to Lucas if the original characters are involved, so they’re trying to replace them in order to fully own everything. Of course, it’s also possible that the original characters are simply too white and straight for the Devil Mouse to abide.

Only this time it’s Americans rather than Nazis like in Inglourious Bastards:

NBC Universal Pictures still plans to release The Hunt about ‘liberal elites’ kidnapping ‘deplorables’ from red states and killing them for sport despite backlash in the wake of mass shootings. NBC Universal is still pushing ahead with plans to release the movie The Hunt. Movie is about liberal elites kidnapping and hunting MAGA types for sport in the upcoming political satire.

Hollywood hates, hates, hates Americans, and hates American Christians in particular because Hollywood is owned and run by Paper American satanists. If you still can’t understand this, if you still can’t accept this, you’re probably not going to get it until you are actually being hunted by them and their proxies.

Meanwhile, actual mass shootings are being committed by their co-religionists.

Their screams music, their pain my pleasure.’ Dayton shooter’s demonic notebook scrawls reveal he fantasized about massacres, ‘hunting’ for humans, craved marijuana and speed, called himself a sociopath and hailed Lucifer. Betts’ rambling contributions, written around 2017, include a Satanic pentagram with the words ‘Hail Lucifer’ and numerous references to death and murder. The warped loner declares himself a servant of ‘evil incarnate’ and rants about everything from schizophrenia to satanic rituals and massacres.

The only problem that NBC Universal Pictures has with the Dayton shooter is that he didn’t target white Christians. This post is directly connected to the previous one, because the movie represents what the satanists intend to do to Americans if Americans are foolish enough to permit themselves to be disarmed.

How can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me.
– Matthew 12:30

Projection is why the Left and the neoclowns – but I repeat myself – are so terrified of “hate” and guns and white people. Because they know that the America they envision will always be an fictitious one:

“Did anyone see what our ratfucker-in-chief just did?” one character asks early in the screenplay for The Hunt, a Universal Pictures thriller set to open Sept. 27. Another responds: “At least The Hunt’s coming up. Nothing better than going out to the Manor and slaughtering a dozen deplorables.”

In the aftermath of mass shootings within days of one another that shocked and traumatized the nation, Universal is re-evaluating its strategy for the certain-to-be-controversial satire. The violent, R-rated film from producer Jason Blum’s Blumhouse follows a dozen MAGA types who wake up in a clearing and realize they are being stalked for sport by elite liberals.

Over the Aug. 3 weekend, ESPN pulled an ad for the film that it had previously cleared, while AMC ran the spot during the season premiere of its drama The Preacher. It’s unclear whether the ads were identical, but the one yanked by ESPN opened with a sound resembling an emergency broadcast signal. A rep for ESPN parent Disney declined to comment on the move, but an ESPN source says no spots for the film will appear on the network in the coming weeks.

The Hunt stars Betty Gilpin from GLOW and Hilary Swank, representing opposite sides of the political divide. It features guns blazing along with other ultra-violent killings as the elites pick off their prey.

Can you even imagine what the VFM being stalked for sport by elite liberals would look like? There wouldn’t be any elite liberals left afterward.

It’s going to be interesting to see Rebel go up against the likes of SJW Black Widow and Captain Marvel:

Schaeffer, who also contributed to Captain Marvel and will be showrunning the upcoming WandaVision series on Disney+ added, “I wasn’t a huge superhero movie fan before starting to work [at Marvel], but now that I’m doing it, there’s just so much opportunity to make big, positive statements.” She continued, “Especially something like Captain Marvel and Black Widow, to have these female-centered stories — I just can’t not be involved in that.”

Schaeffer would go into detail about her ongoing experience with WandaVision and what it’s like to be showrunning a TV series without previous TV writing credits. Schaeffer states, “It’s highly unusual. It’s kind of ridiculous.” However, she adds that showrunning is “the most satisfying role that I’ve had. It combines almost everything. While I think I will get back to directing at some point, right now running a show – I feel like the luckiest person in the world. It’s a really phenomenal gig.”

She goes on to discuss the makeup of the writing room for WandaVision indicating there are four women on a staff of eight writes. Schaeffe states the writer’s room’s makeup is “incredibly intentional, and it was very much supported by Marvel.” She adds, “I felt incredibly strongly that we needed women and people of color and people of all backgrounds and perspectives in the room. I believe — I think it is fact — that stories are better the more perspectives you have.”

Schaeffer also called for superhero films to stop “glamorizing guns and weaponry.”

SJWs with an agenda and no experience. What could go wrong? And let’s just say Rebel doesn’t have any issues with glamorous weaponry. After all, her AR-15 is pink.

This post brought to you by Viral Films Media and its legal advisers.

The REBEL’S RUN campaign is progressing swimmingly.  Chuck and Vox have been hard at work on the script, and the Viral Films Media team is busy on various work streams to keep the project moving forward on schedule.

If you are still interested in supporting the REBEL’S RUN campaign, there is still room and time to do so.

And if you are already a supporter of the campaign, please check your email and make sure that you are following all the necessary steps to follow through and fund your pledge.  Both the Viral Films Media team and the campaign site are more than happy to answer any questions you might have and assist you in completing the process.

SJWs can be excused if they erroneously believe all is well with the Devil Mouse:

Hear Disney roar.

On Sunday, Hollywood’s alpha studio announced its films have collected a record-shattering $7.67 billion at the 2019 global box office — and it’s not even August.

The previous industry record of $7.61 billion was set by Disney in 2016.

The $7.67 billion figure includes $5.09 billion amassed overseas. It’s the first time any Hollywood studio has surpassed the $5 billion threshold internationally.

Already this year, three Disney titles have crossed $1 billion worldwide, not to mention that Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame ($2.79 billion) has surpassed Avatar to become the top-grossing film of all time. Fellow Marvel pic Captain Marvel finished its run with $1.23 billion.

Disney’s live-action Aladdin rode its magic carpet past the $1 billion mark last week, while The Lion King is on the verge of achieving the milestone after finishing Sunday with a worldwide total of $962.7 million after just two weeks in release.

And don’t forget Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 4, which is likely to top $1 billion in the coming weeks. If so, Disney will set a new high-water mark for the number of $1 billion-plus films released in a given year (it set the current record in 2016 with four).

Disney accounts for as much as 45 percent of the $16 billion-plus collected worldwide so far this year by movies released on more than 1,000 screens, including revenue from titles inherited following the Disney-Fox merger. In stark contrast, the next closest studio, Warner Bros., has taken in just shy of $2 billion.

The devil, so to speak, is in the details. Devil Mouse movies are doing very well on a superficial level, but the Great Rat is rapidly devouring its seed corn and riding on the inertia of its past successes. It probably has one more good year in it before the numbers begin to turn south and the rapid decline begins.

That’s right, Natalie Portman will be the next Thor. In not-entirely-unrelated news, it’s not too late to get in on backing Rebel’s Run.

Now two former DC illustrators are predicting the near-term collapse of DC Comics, as Ethan van Sciver recently supported Rob Liefeld’s controversial contention that “DC Comics is going to drive off a cliff” on a recent CAPS stream:

I’m a 26-year veteran of this crumbling comic book industry. World’s most charming and disarming elegant and eloquent humble because occasionally I fumble man a great big star Wars fan, trusted member of the media, so you know, part of the commentary that I’ve been offering in on this channel for the past few months is that I fully expect at this point the comic book industry to collapse very soon. I mean you know in a matter of just a handful years it’ll be gone, and it’s gonna go with a whimper.

What will happen is that Warner Brothers initially will announce that they are shutting down their publishing arm of DC Comics. They will put everything on offer, they will offer all of their back catalogue, digitally they’ll be producing, kind of, I don’t know, you’ll be able to buy a ticket to read all this stuff digitally. I think they already kind of do that, but there will be no more new DC Comics, not really. And then shortly after that, Marvel will linger, but not for very much longer. The comic book stores will further erode, they will go under. Marvel Comics will experiment with other means of distribution, maybe Walmart and Target and all these other things, they’re gonna try to bring back the newsstand, but it’s not going to work.

Marvel Comics eventually will also fold and that’s it. Once DC Comics shutters its doors, that’s the end of the comic book industry, and it’s going to shut down with a whimper. Just like when Mad Magazine closed down, a few people will shed tears, but on a much bigger scale than Mad Magazine because a lot of people, a lot of creative people, are going to find themselves unemployed, and frankly,  unemployable. It’s really bad that people just don’t want to buy comics anymore, they don’t want the low-quality and high prices. And the fact that these idiots are insulting them on social media and in the pages of the books themselves – when you pick up a copy of Captain America and you have the Red Skull mouthing very sensible Republican talking points, you know that the comic book industry is no longer for you – and you also make up 50{739b910556a9cc9c1a54a816a1fda004c1b87c8f235f686ea012b71861344b41} at least 50 percent of the comic buying audience, it’s over. From there it’s just over.

I think both Liefeld and EVS are correct. The unit sales decline I’ve been tracking has continued apace even though total reported dollar sales remain relatively flat. When unit sales fall and dollar sales remain flat, that is a reliable sign of an industry on the verge of collapse, as it means the companies are increasing the prices on their products to try to compensate for their lower sales. It also means that production costs are being cut, which indicates that the quality is in decline as well.

That decline is precisely why we chose to keep Arkhaven and Dark Legion comics out of the Diamond distribution system and the comic book stores. We are actively working on improving the quality of our comics, as those who have received the new standard-size comics have noted how much better they are than the similarly-sized DC and Marvel floppies. When the Alt-Hero Vols. 1-6 omnibus ships to backers in a week or two, people will see some of the fruits of that effort. What’s interesting is that we haven’t even begun exploring the very channels that Marvel is using to keep itself afloat, such as library sales. And beginning with our first foray into film, we’re going to be contesting that area of the culture wars as well.

As I’ve mentioned, comics can be considered movie seeds. And since Disney and Warner a) already possess more seeds than they can possibly produce, b) recognize that the comics now being produced by Marvel and DC are markedly inferior to their predecessors, and, c) prefer to rewrite the stories and characters they are using in their films anyhow, neither conglomerate have much interest in subsidizing what from their perspective is an insignificant, shrinking, and unprofitable industry. The business logic therefore strongly suggests both Disney and Warner will shut down their new-comics-producing operations in the near future.

Speaking of comics, QUANTUM MORTIS: A Man Disrupted #4 is now available in a gold-logo print edition in our new standard size.

Unauthorized.TV is very pleased to announce its second documentary available for viewing on the channel, Unforgettable: The Korean War. This powerful and sobering documentary is comprised of veterans of the Korean War telling of their experiences fighting what has been described as “the forgotten war” on the Korean Peninsula. The documentary is available for all Unauthorized subscribers; non-subscribers can also purchase the documentary or viewing access to it there. If, after watching it, you would like to support the filmmakers as well as the channel, please note that all sales proceeds will be split between them and Unauthorized.

On a related note, subscribers may be interested to know that Unauthorized is filming its first original documentary this weekend. We anticipate releasing it in September.