Quick Reviews

This is something of a throwaway post. A couple films. If this was tomorrow, I would have more for you. Something longer, something more substantial. But today, just a couple reviews, part of what I saw this weekend. The rest, we may see tomorrow.

History Boys - I needed to kill a couple hours Saturday, and this was playing at a convenient time. No other reason to see it. I shouldn't be too snide. It's not bad, I guess, but really. Here, it's a bunch of lads, the clever lads, at a Yorkshire school studying to get into Oxford and Cambridge. They are guided in this task by an ignorant headmaster, an old biddy on loan from one of the Harry Potter films, a young ambitious teacher recently out of Oxford or Cambridge or something like that who Teaches To The Tests, and Richard Griffeths offering a less threatening (and less poignant) rendition of Uncle Monty. They are the only inhabitants of Yorkshire, possibly England, except for a cute secretary and a nosy crossing guard. Despite (or possibly because of) this depopulation, much of the film is consumed in discussion of sex, or at least lust, the rest in vague debates about whether to teach to the test or not. All right, all right - it's not that bad. It's a nice brainless way to pass a couple hours, and does serve to clear the mind for more challenging fare. (Note the foreshadowing! what challenging fare could that be? will there be rabbits? lamps? Nina Simone? Tune in tomorrow...)

F*ck - half the planet is interviewed about the title word, which I, surely, would never print in so many letters here on this humble blog! In fact, this is a pretty good film, a nice amusing documentary about the f bomb. Clips and songs and cartoons, linguistic discussion of the word, its innumerable uses, its history (from 1475 at least; gaining popularity in the 20th century, especially during the world wars, when it spread to become the main form of cursing in english.) Discussion of the bird. The legalities, the politics, the FCC, on TV, in movies, HBO, and so on. It's interesting enough.... The talking heads are generally fairly bland. Maybe it's a function of the film's own biases, but the right wingers come off a bit better than the lefties. The film itself, basically, takes the pro-fuck side - the pro-vulgarity interviewees don't have to do any heavy lifting. The prudes, however, have to make the case against the word, and a few of them try. Pat Boone is witty and self-depreciating; Miss Manners plays her part; even Michael Medved comes off almost half-sane, nowhere near as obnoxious as his usual persona. The filmmakers, though clearly on the other side, generally let them say their piece - they get to make the case, and a couple of them make it as well as you can make such an inherently weak argument. And oddly enough, the best case, the most consistent, complete ann coherent case against the f-word comes from Alan Keyes - Alan Keyes! What the hell? Thankfully, there are a couple lobbyists for the censorship business, who act as smug and stupid as one would expect - and Dennis Prager, radio host, bigoted fool, comes off as every bit the santimonious cunt* you would expect. Blathering about Civilization and the Barbarians, as if he were the civilized one. No no, no one is fooled there!

And Bill Plympton cartoons! whoo hoo!

(And yes, the word does occur a few times in the other film, due for review tomorrow. A couple times. Here and there.)

*Which Drew Carey says is the real offensive word. You'll have to do a documentary on that next! he says.