WordJam: January 2019

Tuesday 1 January 2019

New Year, New WordJam! (Reprise)

Well, 2018 certainly was a hell of a year, folks! Let's see, we had talk of Cold War II (again); a hostile nation adopted a policy of détente with... well, another hostile one; a rich, inbred moron got married to a minor TV star; Hollywood finally did something about casting couch culture; a small, increasingly insignificant European country continued to entertain everyone with its farcical attempt to turn its back on its neighbours while maintaining a pretence of importance in the global community; and, on top of all that, DC Comics openly admitted their movies are shit. Seriously, what more could any semi-professional writer and humourist ask for?

Looking ahead over the next twelve months, though, it's hard to say exactly what 2019's going to bring us. Perhaps we'll see the nightmarish conflict in Yemen finally get the coverage it deserves instead of the usual partial silence from western media, but somehow I can't help wondering if that's just cloud-cuckoo-land.

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Still, at least we'll continue to be kept abreast of events in Syria by responsible, respectable and - above all - professional news agencies whose only interest is bringing us The Truth, no matter how unbelievable it may be.

As above

Either way, here are some cast iron predictions for the year ahead:

1. The Gilet Jaune movement crosses the English Channel and finds popular support among the hopeless and desperate.

2. As the UK gears up for a General Election in the wake of the Brexit debacle, centrists in the Labour Party begin to worry that Corbyn's revised manifesto is pushing their policies too far towards the Left.

3. John McCain makes a surprise return to politics and challenges Trump's Presidency once and for all.

4. Harvey Weinstein's crack team of defence lawyers invoke the little-known 'Scout's Honour' clause in a last ditch attempt to ward off a conviction.

...Remember, you heard it here first, folks.

But on a serious note, glancing back at my posts this year it's probably about time I stopped pretending WordJam is apolitical. That doesn't mean I'm about to start beating you over the head with my personal opinions, of course: it's just we're at a point where hiding from what's going on in the world won't do us any good. Besides, there's nothing wrong with having a good chuckle about it from time to time. As Peggy Noonan once said: "Humour is imagination operating on good nature". Regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum, there's a lot to be said for that.

Anyway, as this site idly cruises towards its third birthday and 20,000 hits, I'd like to take this opportunity once again to say a great big thank you to all my readers. Just make sure you stay tuned to WordJam: the greatest blog on the ethernet.

But, again, don't take my word for it. Perhaps the following endorsement will convince you:

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Onwards, folks!

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Trivial Shit That Really Pisses Me Off (AKA: 'It's a Conspiracy, I Tells Ya...')

DVD has long been a godsend for fans of world cinema, especially when the films you're interested in watching have either failed to pick up theatrical distribution in your country or are unavailable via streaming services. Having said that, it's not very reassuring to find the people responsible for marketing these home media releases either have absolutely no awareness of the content of the films they're trying to promote, or - and this is more likely - are quite happy to mislead undiscerning DVD hounds with cover art that bears very little relation to the flicks they're pushing in the hope of making a quick buck. (As a fan of German and Russian cinema, I find this tends to be a regular feature of my consumer life.) I therefore present some examples of this ignorant and, dare I say it, underhanded practice in the vain hope that someone at Entertainment One, Metrodome or the otherwise excellent Arrow Video is actually reading this.

Bring on the accused...

Gagarin: First in Space - DVD release

For some reason, the Entertainment One DVD shows Gagarin as a combination of Keir Dullea wandering around the Regency-era bedroom in '2001: A Space Odyssey', Sandra Bullock holding on for dear life in 'Gravity' and John Hurt about to be orally-raped in 'Alien'. The original theatrical poster may be a little clichéd with its profile shot of Yaroslav Zhalin staring into eternity, but at least it's trying to be awe-inspiring rather than suggesting - somewhat cynically, I think - that the first human being's journey into space was, well, a bit boring.

2. Anonyma: A Woman in Berlin - theatrical poster

Max Färberböck's adaptation of 'Eine Frau in Berlin', based on the anonymous memoirs of a female journalist caught between sexual violence and emotional dependency in the dying days of the Second World War, was immediately controversial upon its release in Germany, and it doesn't require a doctorate in philosophy to understand why. Although it may not be the most sophisticated of films to deal with this subject matter, it's still a very powerful meditation on identity and gender politics that's still horribly relevant wherever women are caught in warzones and forced to compromise themselves, either against their will or to guarantee the safety of the people they love.

Anonyma: A Woman in Berlin - DVD release

"Fuck that: let's put Nina Hoss in a beret and make it look like an espionage thriller instead! While we're at it, we'll make that bloke stood next to her look like a Nazi of some kind. It's all right, no one'll know he's from the Red Army - unless they're the sort of sad bastards who watch the History Channel. And why don't we stick a bunch of planes in the background? Everyone loves an aerial dogfight. Actually, we could do with changing the title, too. What was that really good flick that came out a few years ago called? You know - the one about Hitler in the bunker?"