Saturday Matinee: Tere Bin Laden

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“Tere Bin Laden” (2010) is a Bollywood comedy written and directed by Abhishek Sharma. Pakistani pop star Ali Zafar stars as Ali Hassan, a TV reporter for a low budget news station in Karachi. Determined to find success in America despite previously being deported after being mistaken for a terrorist, he hatches a plan to raise funds for a fake ID with a sensational video using Noora (Pradhuman Singh), a dimwitted chicken farmer who happens to be a convincing Bin Laden lookalike. The plan rapidly spins out of control when it gets the attention of US government officials and the Pakistani intelligence agency. Though some gags dependent on regional references and wordplay may be lost on western audiences, much of it is broad enough to transcend cultures (especially bits mocking the paranoid and xenophobic post 9/11 milieu). Not surprisingly, the film was banned upon release in the US and several countries in the Middle East including Pakistan. The sequel Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive was released last February.

Happy April 1st

Rather than post a prank (which can all too easily be mistaken for “news” in today’s increasingly absurd media landscape) here’s a random assortment of intentionally funny clips:

The hypothesis behind The Walk of Life Project is that “Walk of Life” by Dire Straits improves the ending of any movie.

It certainly seems to work for The Shining, ideally the version depicted in this trailer:

From ClickHole:

Beautiful: This Video Shows Why We Need Diversity In Hollywood

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Saturday Matinee: Can Dialectics Break Bricks?

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From Wikipedia:

La Dialectique Peut-Elle Casser Des Briques?, in English, “Can Dialectics Break Bricks?”, is a 1973 Situationist film produced by the French director René Viénet which explores the development of class conflict through revolutionary agitation against a backdrop of graphic kung-fu fighting.

The film uses 1972 martial arts film Crush by Tu Guangqi, which tells the story of anti-colonialist revolt in Korea during the period of Japanese occupation, for its visuals which has been dubbed over by the filmmakers in an attempt at détournement. The concept and motivation of this film was to adapt a “spectacular” film into a radical critique of cultural hegemony and thus into tools of subversive revolutionary ideals.

The Narrative is based upon a conflict between the proletarian and bureaucrats within state capitalism. The proletarians enlist their dialectics and radical subjectivity to fight their oppressors whilst the bureaucrats defend themselves using a combination of co-optation and violence. The film is noted for its humorous approach to this serious subject matter.

The film also contains many praising references to revolutionaries who thought and fought for the realisation of a post-capitalist world, including Marx, Bakunin, and Wilhelm Reich, as well as scathing criticism towards the French Communist Party, trade unionism and Maoism. Also Subplots dealing with issues of gender equality, alienation, Paris Commune, May 1968, and the Situationist themselves are riddled throughout the film.

https://vimeo.com/60948078

Saturday Matinee: Hemp Doc Double Feature

MV5BMjE4ODY2OTI5N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTk0OTcxMQ@@._V1_SX214_AL_MV5BMjA3Mzk5NDQ1OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTQwMjIyMQ@@._V1_SX214_AL_The Hemp Revolution (1995) covers the history, cultivation and usage of hemp including food, fuel, building material and medicine. It also explores some of the factors behind the prohibition of hemp production in the U.S. in 1938 (including pressure from the petro-chemical industry). The impressive roster of interview subjects featured in the film includes such notable figures as Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. Lester Grinspoon, Terence McKenna, Peter Dale Scott, and Prof. Sheri Tonn among many others.

The Emperor of Hemp (1999) documents the life of Jack Herer, his struggle for the decriminalization of cannabis and hemp and his legacy. It’s also an overview of his seminal book The Emperor Wears No Clothes: The Official Hemp Bible including the history and many utilizations of hemp, the conspiracy against it, and a rallying cry to end its prohibition.