Paper Thin

Conditions: Clouding 

Having Your Cake 

This anti-islamic video, whose youtube trailer has enraged Muslims around the world, has not been removed from Youtube because google have said that the video does not violate their guidelines. This is a fairly brave stand to make. However it strikes me that while google state they are committed to free speech and freedom of expression, they have managed to remove the film without actually removing it.

Google has so far blocked the video in five countries besides Saudi Arabia: Egypt, Libya, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

The company finds that the trailer is clearly within its guidelines and so will stay on YouTube. It said it had restricted access to it in countries where it is illegal such as India and Indonesia. ((The trailer was also blocked in Libya and Egypt given the very sensitive situations in these two countries, Google said last week.

- itworld.com/

Here’s what I don’t get: how is a block different to actually removing the video? Either this film is offensive or not, either it should be on the website or it shouldn’t. This idea of saying that the film is OK, then blocking it for various countries strikes me as being totally hypocritical. Is google actually making a stand, or just wanting it to seem that way.


Film Review: Resident Evil Retribution

So let me try to get this straight. At the end of the last film Alice had found a couple of survivors in some Californian prison and they had managed to make it to some cargo ship, where they discovered the leader of the Umbrella corporation, and then defeated him, and released a bunch of people trapped below. This film starts from that point, in that we’re still on the boat, but only so we can watch a bunch of attack helicopters come from nowhere, kill everybody and knock Alice unconscious. She wakes up wearing a paper bib again, in a giant Umbrella underground complex, run by an AI program. At which point someone then hacks the system, allowing her to put on some “clothes” and find out what’s going on, while a special team breaks into the complex to rescue her.

I get the distinct feeling they didn’t have all that much of a story for this film. That feeling comes from the fact that a) it’s only 90 minutes long, b) the first 5 minutes are run backwards in slow motion before then running forwards, c) the rest of the film is filled with various slow-motion sequences for various things, and d) there’s not really any story. In fact, this really plays as a greatest hits of Resident Evil films. A bunch of barely-remembered characters are back in various shapes and forms, some as good guys, some as bad guys, some who even do both. And that’s really it.

You know, I think Milla Jovovich actually deserves better than this. I know these movies have been big for her, and provide a great ass-kicking protagonist to revisit, but they’ve become so shallow, and essentially pointless, that really the only reason to watch is to see what ridiculous outfit they’ll stick her in. I don’t think that’s doing her reputation much good, she is actually a pretty good actress when she gets a chance, but here there’s really nothing to do but pout. It’s sad that they’ve managed to make 5 films for this franchise, but based on nothing of any real substance. No big ideas, concepts, themes, or even moments. Oh, it’s in 3D as well, which is an ideal match between a empty pointless distracting technical exercise, for watching an empty pointless distracting technical exercise. One brains out of five.



- Peace out