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CASS, a review by Rich

CASS



The incredible true story of how an orphaned Jamaican baby, adopted by an elderly white couple and brought up in an all white area of London, became one of the most feared and respected men in Britain. CASS grew up in a time before political correctness and was forced to endure racist bullying on a daily basis, until one day when the years of pent up anger came out in a violent burst. CASS found through violence the respect he never had and became addicted to the buzz of fighting. His way of life finally caught up with him when an attempted assassination on his life, saw him shot three times at point blank range. His inner strength somehow managed to keep him alive but he was left with a dilemma; whether to seek vengeance as the street had taught him, or renounce his violent past. This is the extraordinary story of his life.

For someone who grew up going to football in the late 70's and early 80's, albeit to a lower division club which did not have many incidences of hooliganism, I had read the book and hoped the film would be as mature and enlightening. Unfortunately this is a poorly put together effort, strayed considerably from the autobiography, and was badly acted from most lead characters.
It is more realistic that Green Street, but does not have the same bite and feel of Quadrophenia, I cannot see it being of any interest to anyone who did not live through the era, and I could only keep thinking it was a wasted opportunity of translating a good story to film.
 



(From Riches Random Reviews on January 6th, 2009)

Daisies, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are: Czechoslovakia
wikipedia

What We Watched:


Overview:My Thoughts:
This was an interesting film. What I got from it was it's points about the condition and place of women in society, how women are not truly seen or understood, and are locked out of full participation, leading to absurd spoilage. Another point the film has is how asking for help leads to continuing a broken system and therefore the only way to truly achieve help is to help oneself. It would be a really interesting film to use in a college class to analyze from various theoretical perspectives. I don't regret watching it.

I also think it unlikely that I will ever watch it again. It had absolutely no story, moving from scenario to scenario with little (or no) transition or logic, and was completely absurd. I think the director intended this, that pure absurdity is what she wanted to achieve, and in that she was successful, but that doesn't necessarily make for a film that is rewatchable. Also, while the women were active and central to the film, the film's entire focus, all they really did was live off manipulating men and gorge themselves on pleasures. Yes, the point I think was that because women are spoiled by society (in the sense of spoiled food) then why should they not spoil themselves (in the sense of a spoiled kid), but this doesn't ultimately enact change.

I can't think of anyone I could recommend this film to, outside of that one usage I mentioned above. Art film - yes, experimental film - yes, good film - not so much.

Bechdel Test: Pass

Overall: 2/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on January 5th, 2014)

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Giles has found a new prophecy that heralds the arrival of a new enemy. But Buffy doesn't really take it that seriously because she tries to have a social life besides her Slayer duties. And then she finds Owen, a quiet yet profound guy who is also interested in her. But can she really have a social life without endangering people (that are close to her)?

My Opinion: "Clark Kent has a job!" This episode was about the basic dilemma every superhero has to face: How much time is one allowed to have in which one doesn't protect other people. And Buffy made the same decision Clark made in Smallville more than one time and Peter Parker made in Spider-Man ("I will never forget these words: 'With great power comes great responsibility.' This is my gift. My curse. Who am I? I am Spider-Man!"). And yet Buffy is different. She has friends that know her secret. Friends that stand by her and fight with her. They are her foundation, otherwise she would be just another Slayer and her life span would probably much shorter.
But I wander from the subject. I never cared much for the "Anointed One" (or "Annoying One" as Spike will put it) because he basically does nothing while he's on the show except for being a wise-ass. So I liked the episode more for its underlying topic than its main topic.

Synopsis: During a visit to the city zoo something happens to a high school gang - and Xander. They get possessed by the spirit of a hyena and henceforth they behave like a pack of hyenas. They are cruel, nasty and prey on the weak. And they eat the school mascot. But it gets even worse and Buffy, Willow and Giles try to get the old Xander back.

My Opinion: This is one of the rare episodes where the focus is on Xander. And he's also allowed to be one of the bad guys. I think they played the pack very well. But even though Buffy didn't kill that zoo guy directly she threw him into the cage. Granted it was in a fight but I am quite certain that in later episodes they draw a fine line between killing monsters and killing Humans.
I also liked it that they played the "forgetfulness" card just to show that it was a bluff. This joker was played far too often on Smallville.

Synopsis: Buffy and Angel (a mysterious man that drops in and out of her life to warn her about impending doom) get attacked by a group of Vampire warriors and Angel gets hurt. Buffy invites him to her home and tends to his wounds. But then the unthinkable happens: When they kiss, Angel turns into a Vampire himself! He flees but returns and has apparently attacked Buffy's mom. Now Buffy's out for a kill.

My Opinion: One of my favourite episodes of the season. I really liked Darla's more practical approach of using firearms against a Human. Luckily her death isn't the end of her story - as it rarely is in the Buffyverse. And while (until now) Xander might have been jealous of Angel, now his new philosophy is: Only a dead Angel is a good Angel. It's basically the dark side of Xander's character and one day his philosophy will include Spike, too.
What bothered me about the first season was that there were too many "special Vampires" in comparison to later seasons. First the "Aurelius" guys from two episodes ago, now these warrior types. They are famous enough to appear in some ancient books yet they are not good enough to survive at least one episode and it's not even Buffy's "fault".

Synopsis: Ms. Calendar teaches computer class at Sunnydale High and she has started a project to scan all the library books. Unfortunately they also scan Giles's more "exotic" books and they release a demon into the internet that was spell-bound in one of the books. But before Buffy realizes this the demon Moloch has already some of the students under his spell - especially Willow. She believes that Malcolm is a nice guy and that Buffy is jealous of her. Fortunately Giles, Xander and Buffy don't have to fight alone: Ms. Calendar is not only a teacher, but also a techno-pagan.

My Opinion: The story is a bit ridiculous yet fun to watch. The whole idea of an ancient demon who uses the internet and builds himself a new body. But I loved the exorcism scene where Ms. Calendar was typing the counter-curse into the computer and Giles was spellchecking her. And the episode ended in a real whedony fashion when the three sat in front of the school and looked upon their past love lives and then concluded they are doomed.

And while I don't exactly share his sentiment, I really liked Giles's statement about books:

Ms. Calendar: Honestly, what is it about [computers] that bothers you so much?
Giles: The smell.
Ms. Calendar:
Giles:

(From "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Marathon on March 21st, 2009)