jeremy23

I'll start by saying I distrust Chomsky. The thesis he puts forth in Manufacturing Consent is (at best) a reach, and his "followers" (knowing he doesn't encourage followers), I consider by and large to be idiots.

I checked this out at the video store to provide some gravitas in balance against a few other very silly heliumweight comedies I'd checked out, and to have a kick at laughing at some silly rant about the media conspiracy.

In spite of this, I was pleasantly surprised by the movie.

Mark Akbar and Peter Wintonick have made a very watchable, entertaining, and yes, informative documentary laying out Mr. Chomsky's ideas. They are helped along by the fact that Chomsky is an engaging speaker. He comes across as level-headed, voluminously informed, and ready and willing to engage skeptics in discussion. In fact, at one point in the narrative, you hear Chomsky say (through cutup provided by Akbar and Wintonick) "When someone puts out thought which is outside of conventional wisdom, you _should_ sit up and demand extraordinary proof of these theories."

The only failing is that in my mind, the extraordinary proof which one should expect is not here. There is a damning quantity of evidence brought forth by Chomsky, particularly as brought to bear on the subject of the coverage of US foreign policy. You almost want to believe that, yes, there's really some massive behind-the-scenes scheming going on.

If Chomsky was an anthropologist, rather than a linguist, he might conclude that Washington DC is a closed society, everybody attends the same social functions, goes to the same parties, wants to be accepted by the gang, and won't willfully turn around and bite their fellows.

Chomsky sees a Plan. I see our glorious simian heritage rearing its ugly head again.

Several other people have said it, and it must be said again. This is a sick, sick movie. It is also not a great work of art. The characters are pretty thin, and while the concept as a whole is good (I laughed my head off through most of the film), not an awful lot new is being done with the material.

I paid 8 bucks a piece for the tickets, and that may have been a bit of a waste. As something to take home on video for a

night of light, twisted entertainment, it would be just about right.

Tsai Ming-Liang doesn't make movies per se. He takes slices out of people's lives and puts them up on the screen for people to see.

This movie is an example of this style of film-making seen through the eyes of a group of teens in the city.

The meaning of the movie is open to discussion. My take is that the dark tone of this movie reflects the dark tone of its characters lives. For them Taipei is the beginning and the end. Where else have they ever seen, where else would they go? No careers, no connections, no future, no love, no hope. Nothing but work, study, drinking, failed relationships and ennui.

I don't share Tsai's bleak appraisal of the city. It is every bit as bad and grungy as he paints it (I _lived_ in the apartment with sandals floating across the floor!) but it is also much brighter, much better, and much more hopeful at the same time.

The most powerful thing about this movie is the extent to which it draws you in. I first saw this at the Seattle film festival. I was pulled in to the movie so completely I expected to smell Chinese sausages and _chou dofu_ when I left the theatre.