Commies And Fascists

So, the news this week has been all about the shooting incident in Arizona....
In case you haven't heard, this guy -- Jared Loughner -- gunned down, like, six people, and darn near killed a congresswoman. Ever since, the internet has been abuzz with speculation that the whole deal was politically motivated. Folks GOT to know -- Are Tea Partiers and radio pundits to blame for this violence? Could Jared have been pushed over the edge by the nasty rhetoric that now dominates American politics?


Well, those were my first thoughts, too...until I saw Loughner's YouTube channel and forum postings. Face it, folks -- Jared Loughner was C-R-A-Z-Y. He was NUTS. He was a full-blown wackaloon!

Therefore, nothing he said or did could be pinned on anyone.

(No, not even her.)

In the stuff that Loughner had posted online I see the rantings of a true schizophrenic. You can spot 'em if you know how.

See, there's just a certain tone that crazy people have. They ramble and rant and yammer obsessively about obtuse subjects that no one else can even grasp, let alone want to grasp. Take this charming fellow I met on the IMDB, for example: http://www.imdb.com/user/ur8049825/boards/profile . He's convinced that he has invented a pheromone chewing gum that can cure all human suffering, and apparently also thinks that such motion pictures as Schindler's List and Forrest Gump were his creations. And check out his YouTube video: full-on bat-feces CRAZY, man!

This guy has something in common with Jared Loughner: neither one of them makes any sense. They ramble on about weird crap in a manner indicating that they assume we know what they're getting at when, in fact, we just want them to go away. Loughner would submit weird questions to political figures about starting a new currency, while Pheremone Man up there sends suspicious packages of chewing gum to young female celebrities. Same disease, different outcome.


So, yeah -- even though I despise the lows to which certain elements in American politics have taken our political discourse, I can't blame them for the shootings that occurred in Arizona this weekend. Loughner could have been inspired by the writings of Sarah Palin, the speeches of Barack Obama, the sound of a toilet flushing, or the sight of a squirrel winking at him. It really doesn't matter.


I mean, can't anyone just be CRAZY anymore without our culture looking for a scapegoat???

Besides, just look at Jared Loughner's mug shot, and try to tell me he's anything but off his rocker:


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Ahem....

Anyway, here's an early film from Stanley Kubrick that you ought to enjoy. I know I did.

Killer's Kiss (1955)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048254/


Netflix description:
Davy (Jamie Smith), a washed-up boxer, intervenes when a pretty dancehall girl named Gloria (Irene Kane) is brutalized by her hoodlum boss and lover (Frank Silvera). Gloria falls for her rescuer and angers her boyfriend, who promptly sends men to kill him. But when Davy's friend is murdered instead, the lovebirds must run for their lives. Stanley Kubrick writes, produces, edits, shoots and directs this film -- his second full-length feature.

Yeah, Killer's Kiss is among Kubrick's very first motion pictures. It's a film noir about a boxer who gets mixed up with a mysterious dame who has a mobster boss bent on murderizing her.

Our hero's name is Davey, and he's sort of down on his luck when we meet him. On a bit of a losing streak careerwise, Davey's thinking about leaving the big city and heading back to his home town in Oregon for a little R and R. Shortly before leaving, he meets Gloria.

She's a dance hall girl also looking to move on in life. The problem, though, is her previously-mentioned boss, who is straight-up obsessed with her. See, early on in the film, the boss -- named Vincent -- tries to kill Gloria when she rejects his advances and moves to leave him. It happens that Davey witnesses Vincent's subsequent assault on Gloria, and intervenes. Thus unfolds a sort of cat and mouse duel between Davey and the mobster that results in a kidnapping, some fistfights, and one of the best rooftop chase scenes I've ever watched.


This here is a good old-fashioned thriller, friends. Our hero, Davey, really ain't all that bright, and it's obvious that something is amiss about his newfound lover, Gloria. We wonder whose side this broad is really on, and hope that Davey figures his way out of the entire mess. You know, for a couple of unknowns, Frank Silvera and Irene Kane really turn out strong performances here. There's reason to like both of them, and among my favorite moments were the bits when Davey spies on Gloria through her window from across their building's courtyard. His little acts of voyeurism aren't really creepy, either; it's like she knows that he's watching her, and perhaps is watching him back, as well. Simple gestures along those lines give Killer's Kiss a sexy little edge. It's a nice touch.

Then there's the technical aspects of the film. Stanley Kubrick clearly demonstrates an eye for cinematography with Killer's Kiss, as every shot is rich and beautifully lit. Even with a relatively slow-moving plot, this film never bores; Kubrick makes it so darn pretty and atmospheric that we feel as though all scenes are vital. This movie is an example of a whole lot being done with a very, very little.

As mentioned, Killer's Kiss culminates in a superbly-directed chase across several buildings in an urban slum, which was my favorite part. My muscles tightened, and I leaned forward with bated breath to see how our hero would escape the trio of mobsters chasing him. The fight between Davey and Vincent that ensues shortly after is like the icing on an already delicious cake.

Simple, short, and masterfully shot, Killer's Kiss is one of those gems that seems to have been largely forgotten, but should not be missed by true film fans. You can check it out on the Netflix instant streaming service, so there's really no reason to skip it, either. Although there's no deep mystery here, I found the overall package to be a surprisingly exciting little diversion for its brief run of 67 minutes.

Check it out, why don't ya?

4 out of 5.

b.