The Writer's Life 9/30 - Two Films

Armie Hammer is in the midst of a solid Hollywood career. Among the 36 titles listed under his name at IMDb are starring roles in The Lone Ranger (2013) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), the latter of which saw him play Illya Kuryakin. Those are two iconic roles. Last night, courtesy of Netflix, I watched Mine (2016), in which Hammer plays a soldier stranded in a desert, one foot atop a mine. It is an odd story about survival and redemption. I will not comment on the opening scenes, which present an interesting controversy that becomes irrelevant over the course of the narrative. It would likely anger many. The main problem with the movie is that it is too long, even at only 106 minutes. As time passes and the soldier becomes more delirious, the line between what is real and imagined blurs, and he begins to confront his past, which includes an abusive father. He is helped a bit along the way by a desert dweller, excellently played by Clint Dyer, a Londoner. Although his dialogue often seems unrealistic, his presence lifts the narrative. The film was co-directed by two Italians, Fabio Guaglione and Fabio Resinaro, their first time at the helm of a full length feature after collaboration on shorts. They also wrote the screenplay. If their intention was to make an anti-war statement, it's lost among the scenario's other aspects. There are two excellent night time scenes where the protagonist is attacked by predatory animals, although it seems far-fetched that he would have kept his foot in place during them. 8700+ users at IMDb have rated Mine, forging to a consensus of 5.9 on a scale of ten. I don't think it's as terrible as many of its online detractors believe, but its appeal is certainly limited. Those squeamish about violence should pass, although the blood splatter is minimal. The flashbacks of the drunken father and a fight in a bar are more disturbing than the gun play.

I love Blade Runner (1982), one of the most imaginative movies ever made, and eagerly await its sequel. In an op-ed piece in today's NY Post, Jonah Goldberg uses the original, particularly where it went wrong, to defend capitalism. Here are excerpts: "... Ridley Scott thought that using real corporate titans - Coca-Cola, Atari, RCA, Bell Telephone, Cuisinart, Pan Am, Koss headphones, Tsingtao beer - would help convey his gloomy foreboding about the triumph of corporate power in the not-too-distant future. ... Of the eight companies depicted, five either disappeared, were broken up or were bought by other firms. Atari, which controlled 80% of the home-video-game market, went belly-up, though the name has been bought and revived by another company. Koss and Cuisinart went bankrupt (though Conair bought the Cuisinart brand out of Chapter 11 in 1989). Bell Telephone was split into different companies... The idea that corporations will one day take control of our lives has been a staple of science fiction — and the left-wing — for generations... Only 67 of the firms in the Fortune 500 in 1955 remained there by 2011. And the death rate is accelerating... The same dynamic holds true for another favorite super-villain: the super-rich. While it’s true that the combined net worth of the one-percent has increased, the actual people in that class come and go. Fewer than ten percent of the 400 wealthiest Americans who appeared on the Forbes list in 1982 were still there in 2012. As for the permanent aristocracy of wealth, of the 20 biggest fortunes on the 2013 Forbes list, 17 were self-made... What explains this? Simply: capitalism itself...  The only thing that can make a monopoly permanent is government, because only government can prevent the sort of innovation and competition that undermines every corporate behemoth..." Kudos, sir.

As for the capitalistic enterprise of the floating book shop, it was a complete flop today - no sales.

Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 

Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story Collection:http:// tinyurl.com/lh2tepa 
Vic's 2nd Novel Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Website: http://vicfortezzaauthor.my-free.website/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/Vic-Fortezza-Author-118397641564801/?fref=ts

Read Vic's Stories, free: http://fictionaut.com/users/vic-fortezza