video review : Swallow

video review : Swallow

You’d think a flick about a cute girl who likes to Swallow would be a thrill. Hunter, a New York housewife with a compulsive disorder that makes her eat inedible objects like marbles and needles, brings about a few moments of suspense near the end, but most everything before it is a case study in oddball storytelling.

It’s not just crazy Hunter. Other people also say and do weird things, which give their world a Tim Burton kind of feel. An angry outburst from her otherwise amiable husband, for example, seems totally out of character. The movie is ultimately okay enough, but if there’s a point or underlining message, it’s lost on me.

my rating : 3 of 5

2019

audio review : Out For Fame ( song ) … KRS-One

This is a song about graffiti; probably my least favorite aspect of hip-hop culture. KRS-One is an advocate as he raps from the perspective of an artist with “25 cans in my knapsack… putting up my name with a fat cap.”

He goes on to shoutout Phase 2, Stay High, Presweet and other popular “writers”. The appeal is still lost on me, but I do like the song. That’s mainly because of the beat and the way the rapper flows onto it like a mural.

my rating : 4 of 5

1995

video review : All In The Family : Archie And The KKK

video review : All In The Family : Archie And The KKK

“We’re not gonna be driven out of our house screaming in terror,” Michael Stivic insists in response to a threat from the Ku Klux Klan. “What are we gonna do,” his wife asks in a state of panic. “We’re gonna leave quietly,” he says. It’s the funniest bit of the episode; a two-parter that doesn’t start to get good until the second half.

The drama begins when Archie inadvertently becomes a KKK member after he’s overheard at the bar condemning the social unrest happening; black people rioting and such; in the neighborhood. He may be racist but regrets being duped into joining, especially when he catches wind of their plan to burn a cross in front of his family’s house.

my rating : 3 of 5

1977