Spetters

Spetters (when translated means hunks) is a coming of age story directed by the notorious Paul Verhoeven a few years prior to his entrance into the American film scene with Robocop. Following three friends – Reen (Hans van Tongeren), Hans (Maarten Spanjer), and Eef (Toon Agterberg) – from a small town in The Netherlands, Spetters explores both the world of motocross and finding out who one really is. It’s also a film filled with much sexuality and a good deal of homoeroticism. I’d never seen any of Verhoeven’s Dutch films before and after watching Spetters I can see not only why he made it to America (he can direct an interesting and visually striking film) and why he’s such a controversial director.

Showgirls

Where does one begin with Showgirls? It’s a high budget NC-17 film directed by the excellent Dutch director Paul Verhoeven; it’s also been dubbed one of the worst films ever made, sweeping the Razzies in the mid-1990s (incidentally, Verhoeven showed up in person to collect his multiple, shameful trophies) and performing dismally at the box office. Considering America is struggling with the duality of hyper-sexuality and Puritanical sexual repressiveness it’s no wonder Showgirls was a critical and financial failure – Showgirls features nudity for at least half of the film and touches upon sexually explicit material (primarily orgasms) frequently. Showgirls’ protagonist Nomi (Elizabeth Berkley from Saved by the Bell) is a headstrong, highly sexualized woman who’s dealing with the realization that an entertainer becomes nothing more than a prostitute (especially in Las Vegas); Berkley is also a terrible actress. However, it’s her awful performance that really brings this film together. In essence, her overblown awfulness sells, turning Showgirls from an erotic movie into the best comedy of the 1990s.

This week in my world…

Here’s my lazy man post for the day (since I’ve been writing my thesis for the most part and haven’t had time to write anything else). Normally when writing I loathe a quiet room but I can’t really listen to music because it’s distracting; instead I throw on a movie that I’ve seen a million times and just let it run, maintaining a low drone in the background. Lately it’s been Blade Runner, a film I feel is one of the best science fiction films of the 20^th century (followed only by Verhoeven’s science fiction trinity and possibly Escape From New York). While I’ve been paying little attention to the dialogue, the music by Vangelis is a great writing soundtrack. I know it’s hypocritical since I don’t like listening to actual LP’s or CD’s while writing, but the music from Blade Runner is working very well.

In honor of Vangelis’ contribution to my academic progress, here’s my favorite part of his score. Enjoy and have a good weekend.

By the way, if you live in the Orlando area come and check out my bands this weekend and on next Wednesday. The information is below:

Saturday, March 19, 2011: New Man with The Wonderers at Devaney’s Pub. Corner of Goldenrod and University in Winter Park, Florida. Show starts at 10pm and is free to anybody 21 and up.

Wednesday, March 23, 2001: Weedeater with Zoroaster, Junior Bruce, and Sterile Prophet at Backbooth. On Pine Street right off Orange in downtown Orlando. Show starts at 8pm and is open to anybody 18 and up. $10 in advance/$12 day of show.

Robocop Statue

I know this is a lazy post but I just celebrated my 100^th post with an exploration of The Devil’s Rejects (which few people have read so far) and I’m really busy writing a thesis. However, in celebration of my paltry contribution to academia I am posting an article from Slate about the topic of my thesis: Paul Verhoeven. Apparently a giant statue of Robocop is going up in Detroit, much to my amusement, and some are happy about it; others aren’t. Enjoy the article and expect another post later this week. Thanks.

Detroit Needs Robocop

Now more than ever. Why a proposed statue of the tragic hero is a good idea for the Motor City.

By Patrick Cassels
http://www.slate.com/id/2287641/

Robocop

I was listening to Talk of the Nation this afternoon and the topic was the privatization of prisons. I didn’t hear the whole program, but what fascinated me was how corporations entering this venture pull profits. For example, if an inmate requires medical assistance (dispensing medication, etc.), they’re charged a fee – around $12 a day. If they can’t pay it, they’re billed for it and expected to recompense the prison after their release. In a state operated prison this doesn’t happen; the burden falls on the taxpayer. I’m sure an argument for a private prison system is thought out and coming from a sincere place (at least in regards to the general population and not corporations), but it seems dangerous. Corporations are insane. The documentary The Corporations is a prime example: by implementing psychoanalytic techniques, the documentary finds a corporation embodies all the traits inherent in a psychopathic personality – at least those found in the DSM-IV.