Tag Archives: GIF

Movies For Socialists

Readers, it’s the beautiful month of May, and you know what that means-

That’s right! It’s a seemingly unending salvo of rabidly Socialist-themed blog posts!

From me, anyways…

Now readers, normally I’d get right into the thick of things and engage in a lengthy tirade on the insidious-and-soul-crushing nature of the Capitalist system and the failure of the radical left to challenge that. But since this post is coming to you late, how about I talk about something a bit lighter than the minutiae of modern political-economy instead?

How about movies?

Everyone likes movies, and lord knows that these ones listed here have probably done more to inspire righteous radicalism in the common man than all of the cliff notes on Das Kapital put together. Whether you’re a dirty, seditious Commie or just a fan of the berets and impassioned speeches, here’s Culture War Reporter’s recommendations for your revolutionary viewing pleasure:

The Edukators (German Title: Die Fetten Jahre Sind Vorbei)

Now right off the bat, yes, that is Daniel Brühl, of Rush and Inglorious Basterds. Now that you’re done wondering “where the **** have I seen that guy?”, let’s get into it.

Our story opens with a cadre of disaffected youth, tired and disillusioned with capitalism but not sure exactly what to do with themselves. The characters find themselves drawn into a campaign of pranking the houses of the wealthy elite- harmlessly, at first, but building momentum and severity. Their well-intentioned social statements spiral wildly out of control when they accidentally kidnap the owners of one of the estates they vandalize. Don’t think this is some cheap action movie though- the quiet, contemplative tone packs just as much punch, if not more, than any thriller.

More than anything, The Edukators is an exploration- touching on the zealotry of youth, the realities of growing up, and idealism in a world where ideals just aren’t relevant. The Edukators raises more questions than it offers, and is sure to convict both revolutionary and reactionary alike. Continue reading

Fixing Exorcism Movies

The Exorcist came out in 1973, and while pretty tame by today’s standards, was nonetheless an iconic film which arguably gave birth to the entire “exorcist-film” genre.

Of course, by “genre”, I mean a number of studios have been trying to make the exact same ****ing movie every single year and show no signs of stopping anytime soon.

We’re just now in July and we’ve already had a few out churned out, though what got me on the subject have been the non-stop ads for Deliver Us From Evil, the latest cash-grab which look like a soulless mash-up of both the exorcist and zombie apocalypse flicks.


Yeah. Possession that somehow spreads a la zombie-logic. Let’s go ahead and start right there.

Continue reading

Culture War Correspondence: Patriotism

GORDON: Friends, Romans, countrymen, this post is being written by the rocket’s red glare. Or whatever they have in Canada- not usually a nation I associate with explosives.

EVAN: Funnily enough, it’s my turn to do the intro.

GORDON: Your intros are bad, and you should feel bad.

EVAN: I mean, you’re not wrong. [ . . . ] Is this part of the thing?

GORDON: Yes. The audience will find this little bit amusing and endearing.

EVAN: It’s actually funny that you mention my country and explosives given that it sounds like a literal war zone outside. Happy Canada Day, everyone. What better time to discuss the topic of patriotism?

GORDON: With the rapid approach of July 4th, no better time at all. Though perhaps you could enlighten our readers south of the wall as to what exactly Canada Day is…

EVAN: It’s . . . Canadian Independence Day. That’s pretty much it. An opportunity for those close to the border to catch some lovely fireworks three days early. I’ve never celebrated the 4th down south, but I can only assume they more or less work roughly the same way.

GORDON: If you mean hamburgers and standing around in a mosquito ridden park for four hours waiting for a deeply underwhelming fireworks display, then yes.

EVAN: That’s it. That’s exactly it. Continue reading

The Golden Age of Television

Readers, yours truly is not a person to whom the positives of life are either readily apparent or understandable, but even someone as typically dour as myself can’t deny that we are living in a golden age of television.

It’s he-re…

Now I’m not exactly sure why that is- why all of a sudden we seem to have had a jump in quality and quantity of shows. An age thing, perhaps? I considered that, but as much as we could argue that we simply prefer the television shows we had when we were in our 20s, I don’t think my generation is alone in the belief that TV is better now than it was a decade ago.

Let’s try to figure out why. Continue reading

Our Injustice System (Revisited)

I don’t work in prisons.

I mean, I might have to in the near future, but as of yet, I haven’t.

Today I’m going to be making some pretty bold statements, and I want to be up front about my reasons for doing so. While I don’t work in the big house (I have had to deal with min-sec “transitional housing”- if that counts for anything), I do work exclusively with an ex-felon population. As with a bad car wreck, you don’t have to be an expert to a look at the current situation and work backwards to figure out just where things started going wrong. Now I’m not saying that prisons help cause crime, just that as they stand today, they aren’t doing a whole lot of helping.

Let me break it down here.

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Comcast and Net Neutrality

Few things have revolutionized culture and the modern world as much as the internet has. Art, music, news, gaming, communications, shopping, education, politics- there’s not a single aspect of life that hasn’t been affected by it. Heck, revolutions that no one imagined could take place have, and the innovations and collaboration the internet has given a platform to have largely been credited as playing an integral role.

Not of course, to say that praise doesn’t ultimately go to the bravery of the Egyptian, Kurdish, and Syrian protestors…

At no other time has humanity had such access to democratic development and discussion.

And that time may now in fact be passing, with the striking down of net neutrality by a D.C. circuit court in January of this year.

FCC Head/Lobbyist Extraordinaire Tom Wheeler, who just doesn’t give a ****.

Continue reading