Short Cuts

• Of the dozens of articles Filmbrain has read on Mel Gibson's The Passion, none have critiqued the film quite like this article from the World Socialist Website. From the article:

  "The actor/director may very well see himself as a man who has been persecuted, wronged, even (metaphorically) scourged, and no doubt personal demons play a role here, but the mix of aggression and passivity in Gibson's psyche is secondary. One is speaking of an embittered, troubled social type. The political tendency (in the broadest sense) he represents, which has relatively deep roots in the US and has become more pronounced in recent years, is associated with feelings of deep resentment and paranoia. Such individuals and groupings on the right are deeply convinced that Americans and Christians in particular form an endangered species and face an almost universally hostile world."

• Filmbrain hits the big time! Über-blogs Gawker and Green Cine Daily have both made mention of his site, and for that he is truly grateful.

• Online viewing tip: HTMovies are a variation on the ASCII-art theme and are the first movies viewable on the Internet without any plug-in technology at all. Six short films that are pretty darn cool. See them at plugincinema.com, home to all sorts of experimental online film.
  

• It should come as no surprise, considering the title of this blog, that Filmbrain worships at the temple of Jean Luc Godard. In his mind, there is no finer director in the world. Every Godard film is akin to digesting a major text, and each one has been responsible for furthering Filmbrain's love of cinema. Here is a reprint of an article from the April 1960 issue of Cahiers du Cinema that is, in Filmbrain's not-so-humble opinion, the best study of the early Godard. Jean Luc Godard at the tomb of Kenji Mizoguchi, by Luc Moullet.

  "Godard is an introverted ethnologist who scrutinizes even the slightest glance or gesture of others; but, masked by dark glasses, he allows no one to see what he is thinking. His personality is disarming, precisely because he manifests the most total indifference while he is in reality the most emotionally affected."

  

• Finally, if any further proof was needed as to how dangerous Mel Gibson's Jesus-snuff-porno is, just read this story about a couple that got into an argument after the film. From the police report:

  "When they got home, they continued to argue loudly about the movie. During that argument, they started arguing about the mentality of each other's parents. That is when Melissa jumped on Sean, and they started fist fighting."