- By Mark Farnsworth | April 15, 2013
- Review: Spring Breakers
Simultaneously we condemn and condone the frailty of youth, the barbaric poolside hedonism that spits in the face of all that’s proper and decent.
Hieronymus Bosch is alive and well and living in Florida, bitches! He’s melding slobbering hunks of flesh into micro bikinis Brian Yuzna style. Two finger smiles, porn star tongues-this could be an X-rated Coke advert. Sun kissed skin sizzles in montage, booze cascades in slow motion, Sodom meets Gomorrah by the sea. Welcome to Heaven and Hell. Welcome to Spring Break. Say hello to the “Spring Breakers.”
- By Mark Farnsworth | April 4, 2013
- Cruel Britannia: A closer look at Gangster No.1.
Surely we’re in Guy Ritchie country, style over substance? Think again.
London 1999. In the shadow of the Millennium Dome, men with faces as rough as Bethnal Green tube station laugh and leer at the camera. These monsters in bow ties are grotesque; their mirth rains like rancid nails, their stories are tired and worn like old 78s. Smoke rises, expelled from their black lungs filling the boxing hall with violent nostalgia, sinister nonsense.
- By Feature Writer | August 2, 2012
- Taking on the media: Mexico’s unprecedented protests against Televisa
Unlike traditional social protests directed either at politicians or the political system itself, these protests put the blame in a new active participant, Televisa, the media company that, according to protesters, supports the status quo while denying air time to the public discontent.
Something unprecedented has been happening in Mexico for the past eight weeks: thousands of students, workers and peasants are taking to the streets to protest the media legitimization of what is believed to be electoral fraud. Unlike traditional social protests directed either at politicians or the political system itself, these protests put the blame in a new active participant, Televisa, the media company that, according to protesters, supports the status quo while denying air time to the public discontent. These marches, borne out of the “Yo soy 132” movement seem to follow a similar organizing pattern to the Spanish indignants and the activism behind the Arab Spring.
- By s.e. smith | June 26, 2012
- Attacking the Most Vulnerable: General Assistance Benefit Cuts in the U.S.
Despite the fact that it would cost the state less to retain their General Assistance benefits, the state is trying to claim it will ‘save money’ by ending this very basic assistance programme. Cuts deliberately target the most impoverished members of the community, and verge on eliminationist in nature.
In 2009, Britain started facing a series of severe benefits cuts targeting older Britons as well as members of the disabled community. Outraged, people took to the streets, including those who had never protested before, in events with thousands of people that caught major media attention. The US watched apathetically, except for small corners of the disability community observing out of solidarity and worry, knowing that what was happening in Britain could hit them next.
- By s.e. smith | June 1, 2012
- Everyone Dies: Looking Back on House
What made House remarkable was the inclusion of a disabled character as the lead, and a working one at that.
Fox finally pulled up the sheet over House’s face on 21 May, bringing the long series to an end with an aptly titled finale episode, “Everybody Dies.” As season finales of long-running shows often are, it attempted to encapsulate the show in an hour, leaving viewers with a taste of old characters and a final bite of the show’s distinct style as well as tying up loose ends to generate a feeling of completion with a touch of nostalgia.
- By Emily Manuel | May 22, 2012
- Sex Online? The Ultra-Orthodox Rally Against the Internet
To rail against the Internet today in 2012 feels much like protesting the printing press or electricity or modern medicine – pointless and self-defeating.
In New York yesterday, forty thousand Haredim (“ultra Orthodox”) and Hassidic male Jews crammed into Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets, in an asifa (rally) against the Internet. It was a striking sight, a sea of austere black clothes, forelocks, beards. Like the Haredi women unable to attend this single-sex gathering, I, of course, watched it on the internet live stream.
- By s.e. smith | May 10, 2012
- Scandal: Shonda Rhimes goes political
While Scandal definitely has some soapy aspects, it’s not as sudsy as offerings like Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice and has the possibility of being a much more mature, emotionally complex, and savvy show.
Ever since The West Wing stopped airing, there has been a notable and gaping hole in the television schedule for a smart, snappy political drama that takes viewers into the corridors of power in Washington and spits them back out again at the end of the hour. The Shonda Rhimes Network, also known as ABC, decided to go big or go home with Scandal, a midseason pickup for 2012 that revolves around Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), ‘the most powerful woman you’ve never heard of.’
- By Feature Writer | April 11, 2012
- Time Banks: Tapping into the Untold Riches in your Neighbors’ Skill Sets
Time banking isn’t a new concept–it’s been around at least since the late 1980s. But now that most people’s wallets are looking more threadbare than at any time since the Great Depression, this creative concept is catching on.
When is a cooking lesson worth the same as a dental cleaning? Or a tree stump removal worth the same as a hand-hammered silver bracelet? When both services are provided as part of a time exchange, or time bank. Time banking isn’t a new concept–it’s been around at least since the late 1980s. But now that most people’s wallets are looking more threadbare than at any time since the Great Depression, this creative concept is catching on.
- By Feature Writer | October 19, 2011
- Ace of Base’s Stockholm: An Interview with Ulf Ekberg
The perfect ambassador for all things Sweden is famous for, Ace of Base’s Ulf Elkberg takes us on a tour of Stockholm and shares us some of his secrets about the town.
Famous for its music, design and enviable social democracy, Sweden is an idyllic-yet-modern country to spend some time in. I caught up with Ulf Ekberg, best known for being co-founder of Ace Of Base. One of Sweden’s greatest international successes, they are in the Guinness book of World Records for having the best-selling debut. He’s also famous for having girls scream over his good looks, and while he knows how to party, he also happens to be a great businessman—he’s been Volvo’s and Ericsson’s ambassador. In a way he’s the perfect ambassador for all things Sweden is famous for. Ulf takes us on a tour of Stockholm and shares us some of his secrets about the town. The way Ulf describes Sweden with such an eye and detail; it could only be an artist talking.
- By s.e. smith | September 15, 2011
- How much lower can TV go? A fall preview
This network television season, it appears that the big players are in a race to the bottom to see how low you can go in an exploitation of current economic and political conditions.
This network television season, it appears that the big players are in a race to the bottom to see how low you can go in an exploitation of current economic and political conditions. My hat is off to Hollywood’s army of developers, writers, and show runners, who have served up a hot mess of new reality offerings as well as dramas. Today, we take a look at some of the fall shows we missed in our earlier coverage.
NBC is reviving Queen for a Day, in which game show competitors see who can tell the best sob story to win living room sets, kitchen makeovers, and other big ticket prizes. The flagging network is betting hard on the success of this remake to recapture the game show market, which has waned in favor of reality shows in recent years. Queen for a Day hasn’t appeared on US airwaves since 1970, but it’s practically tailor-made for the financial crisis, although I’m not sure where competitors are supposed to install their prizes if their homes have been foreclosed. Catch it on Thursday nights, but be sure to grab a hanky first.
Attempting to go up against the juggernaut that is Dancing With the Stars might seem like a losing proposition from the start to us lesser mortals, but Fox is giving it a shot with Sharking With CEOs. The network is pitting CEOs against loan sharks to see which can originate more exploitative loans in a one month period, working out of payday loan offices across the United States. Competitors earn extra points for each defaulted loan, and the top entrants have a chance at interviews for positions on the boards of some of the world’s largest financial firms.
