The Useless Critic 2.0

There are many pros and cons involved with documentary film making. I even had one friend once that stated “I don’t watch documentaries. They’re too one-sided.” Of course, I doubt I would ever have the ability to the live that type of life, but many documentaries do present a single one-sided point of view. All that aside, the major pros of documentary film making is that they are able to showcase the truth of real life to the world and present the general public and wide ranges of audiences with critical information. After watching “Mugabe and the White African” on the 30 day Free Netflix Trial, that point has never sounded so clear. This documentary follows a white Caucasian farm-owning family living in Zimbabwe, and they receive a type of 21st Century discrimination. The film begins with a quote from Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, where he states he will be Hitler “Ten Fold.” That’s exactly it. I would have thought that someone was spreading that as a joke, if it hadn't co...

“I Saw the Devil,” is a name that is popping around the United States. It has made it’s way from Korea via satellite, DVD sales, and theatrical input. In other words, it is out on DVD and in select theatres. However, this film is more like a gory psychological satire that slaps you in the face. If you are not comfortable watching blood, turn your player off or go to the theatre with someone that is comfortable with you burying your face in their shoulders, because this film is covered in gory, mutilating scenes of masterful bloodletting. To get deeply into the heart of the movie, this is a mental chess game between two men. It brings up the classic idea of a man trying to avenge his lost love at the hands of a living monster. But things get outside the traditional framework of an ordinary film. In just over two hours, you can see fight after fight between two men that display strength almost beyond the capabilities of man. The two men battling it out remind me of that line from the Jok...

So by the thanks of the graces of a friend, I happened to encounter this film “Mother” from Korea. It is the tale of a rather overbearing mother that is forced into a quest of trying to prove her son’s innocence for a chilling murder. It begins to show a woman with a son, whom she adores, caught up in some negative lifestyles, but really, he is no more than a petty thug and not a hardened criminal. This is a film that establishes with lots of bizarre scenes, and by bizarre, I mean they are only weird for a little while. As for the ending of the film, all I can say is it reminds me of that Japanese classic film “Rashomon.” From the title and any cover images this may seem like a film that follows the depth of a mother’s love. But as that lovely Stephin Merrit once wrote. “Things are not what they appear, Beginning with a mother’s love, When a helping hand comes near, It leaves an empty glove.” As the mother in this film launches her quest to find the real killer and prove her son’s inno...