Ever since prohibition failed and those in charge had to find something else to qualify keeping their jobs the war on drugs has waged. In the pre prohibition era drug use had never been seriously legislated or monitored.
Back in the depression days and earlier Marijuana was just another weed that grew on the side of highways all over America. (Some called it Hobo-wine) Sigmund Freud and Coca Cola prescribed cocaine as cures what ails you magic elixirs.
Pharmaceutical companies had not yet gained a stranglehold on the health system and passive smoking had not even been acknowledged.
Then came the J Edgar Hoover years and a vigilant and aggressive battle was waged that continues to fail to this day. Some of the early recreational drug use propaganda that surfaced around this era and later is amusingly misinformed.
Films like Reefer Madness prescribed that to take a toot of pot you would become a homicidal psychopath. Aside from the obvious aversion to serial killing the movie also implies that a life of crime is inevitable.
Reefer Madness Trailer
This 1960s LSD video also uses fear tactics to achieve its message. Coming in the wake of the LSD therapy craze of the 1950s that saw big name stars like Cary Grant and Esther Williams work through childhood traumas aided by the chemical substance. It was a time of the Grateful Deads Acid Test and Timothy Leary approaching messiah status for his development and cultural encouragement of the trippy mind bender.
LSD Not For You Propaganda Film
No doubt that all these hallucinogens and stimulants are damaging to the body, but like most things it is the synthetic man made compounds that do the most irreparable harm. The ones they sell over the counter in mass quantities.
A new film from the Pulp Fiction bad-ass Director of Jackie Brown is a geek event par excellence. Today the first look teaser parachuted in to heighten the fever. Remaking the 1970s original, expectations are high for genre hopping exploitation and cartridge in cheek tension.
The Original Bloody Eight
As usual actors were climbing over themselves in hopes of becoming immortalized as a QT character. The cast of Inglorious Bastard, an eclectic bunch assembled for a Dirty Dozen style WWII Combat adventure. Leading the cutthroat posse of Reservoir Dogs is a heavily accented Brad Pitt, whose sole purpose is Killin Nazis (Nat-s-ies).
QT coaxes a performance
Included in this blood thirsty rampage against German forces is Mike Meyers (So I Married an Axe Murderer) , Eli Roth (Hostel Director) , Diane Krueger, Samuel L Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Cloris Leachman (High Anxiety), Julie Dreyfuss (Kill Bill), Maggie Cheung (Kill Bill) and Rod Taylor (The Time Machine).
Diane Krueger
Removing the deeper hypocrisies and contemplation on the futility of war, Tarantino promises a rollicking yarn that romps through sex, violence and mayhem.
The throwback boys-own style war film has been out of fashion ever since Hollywood developed a conscious. Personally the anti war film is very satisfying but there is certainly a place for exploitation and gratuitous propaganda too. The romanticized image of war left us long ago, it will be an interesting social experiment to see how audiences behave in what could be called an extinct genre.
Dumbledore character poster for the Half Blood Prince
After the furor surrounding the shifting release dates for Harry Potter 6, the first poster artwork has surfaced from that leaky WB cauldron of PR. (Found on msn.com)
A mild fan of the books myself, the art work look like they keep the dense atmosphere of dread that seemed to come from the typed pages.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
With most of the cast (Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, David Thewlis, Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane etc) returning for the July 16th release date, this next installment is Directed by David Yates who helmed the previous film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Yates is also scheduled to helm Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows to controversy at splitting the monumental swansong in twain for a To Be Continued two-parter. (One in 2010, the other in 2011)
Glasses and all for the battle begins
Back to 2009, and the current Half Blooded episode that begins the potentially tragic winner take all showdown between Harry and Voldermort. Rather than recount the novel, here is a brief synopsis of the film according to the official site:
Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemorts defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information.
Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself increasingly drawn to Ginny, and so is Dean Thomas. Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hasnt counted on Romilda Vanes chocolates. Then theres Hermione, simpering with jealousy but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.
Watch the official trailer for "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince"
Thanks for the heads up but, I'm in Australia and we spell it the traditional english way...there are many words that the US spell with a "z" that we do with an "s".
Here endeth the international grammar lesson for the day
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Comment by Tyronne
on Ernest Hemingway
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Melbourne DiaryStar
I'm glad you noticed I tried my hardest to follow his dictum. (Wise words those)