INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS “Better Than The Holocaust”
August 24th, 2009 by Scott Marks
Who is the ignorant bastard responsible for this?
This comes from Landmark’s Guild 45th Theatre in Seattle, Washington. When I worked for Landmark in the early 80s, they encouraged theatre managers to come up with clever slogans to put on the marquee. Above a 007 double feature in the middle of winter the marquee invited people to “Come in, it’s cool inside.” “El Cid” was sold as “One Hell Of A Mann.”
This is taking it too far. My Facebook friend Ann Magnuson commented, “WoW Scott, that is soooo offensive it’s almost funny…I did say ALMOST. Of course, just about anything is better than the holocaust….seriously.”
This was posted on Slog News & Arts and according to Slog Tipper Annie, “Supposedly after complaints, they sent someone out in the wee hours of the morning to change it—it says ‘Brad Pitt’ or something equally mild now.”
While I do appreciate any attempts at gallows humor, I hope the little snot behind this tag line loses their job.
Review: THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS / Mark Herman (2008)
December 14th, 2008 by Scott Marks
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
Directed by Mark Herman
Written by Mark Herman from the novel by John Boyne
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Vera Farmiga, David Thewlis, Jack Scanlon, Amber Beattie,
Photographed by Benoît Delhomme
Running Time: 94 min.
Rating: 
***WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD***
It’s a Holy Jolly Holocaust kind of a Christmas movie season this year with the December release of no less than six features (The Reader, Valkyre, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Defiance, Adam Resurrected and Good) that in one form or another attempt to cash in on Hitler’s inferno. Several critics are up in arms, not over the quality of the pictures, but the fact that Hollywood has decided to hit us with a wave of depressing subject matter during this otherwise most wonderful time of the year. Harvey Weinstein, producer of The Reader, defended the recent glut to Page Six, “What a wonderful subject to explore in as many ways as possible. I hope our children get educated about the Holocaust, so it will be ‘Never again’.” Harvey knows that Academy members, who frequently confuse message movies with art, love throwing their votes to “important” subject matter. He is also aware that many voters have short memories, so if studios want to cash in come Oscar time, they had better start the bandwagon rolling in the last two months of the year. And does Harvey truly believe that the best way to educate children about the Holocaust is by charging them to watch a fictional film?
Mark Herman’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas combines the worst elements of Schindler’s List and Life is Beautiful to produce one of the most simplistic, offensive and ill conceived of all Hollywood Holocaust horror shows.
Little Bruno (Asa Butterfield) lives an idyllic life in the city with his doting mother (Vera Farmiga), annoying older sister Gretel (Amber Beattie) and sharp dressing father (David Thewlis). According to Herman’s master plan, his characters’ dialect is perfectly suited to a family of Oxford University graduates, not a Nazi standard bearer and his clan. One day, dad gets a promotion he can’t refuse and uproots the family and moves to the suburbs where they set up housekeeping in the shadow of one of Hitler’s “farms.” This being Germany in the 1930’s, we know what Schicklegruber was planting.
For the child, it’s a veritable garden of totalitarianism. From his city dwelling, Bruno’s horizon was limited to a brick wall. Now he has a spectacular bedroom view overlooking dad’s new factory. Like the son of any successful CEO, Bruno is curious to know how his pop brings home the bacon. With no friends or even a dog or cat to help occupy his time, Bruno is eager to find some type of playmate. The closest he gets to a pet is the family’s Jewish servant, Pavel (the old, but not convincingly emaciated enough David Hayman) who helps the Commandant’s son build a tire-swing and bandages his knee after he falls off it. Bruno can’t quite fathom why Pavel wears a pair of ill-fitting gray-on-gray pyjamas (or do you say “pajamas”?) underneath his work clothes.
Continue reading Review: THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS / Mark Herman (2008)
Tags: Asa Butterfield, david thewlis, Holocaust, holocaust movie, Mark Herman, Movie Review, the boy in striped pajamas, THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, vera farmigaFiled Under Reviews, Theatrical
keep looking »