PatrickFlanigan

I was shocked at how strongly the critics raped this movie. I spent many years inside this world and I was surprised by the realism. It is a sad world. There is nothing glamorous about it. Except that it is indeed a writer's paradise. I am surprised by the general lack of work that comes out of this environment. It is the front lines. All of these women are pulled out of the Matrix at an early age. It's intention is not to be a great film. It's intention is to capture the strip club world. And to reveal some raw souls that are rarely seen, much less understood. These girls are often stereotyped as empty, but they just started out with bad directions. These people are real. I know them. I recommend it highly.

How do you fight an imaginary monster? Understand that it is your mind that makes it real. The paradox is that the mind can't change what it has created... because it believes in itself. I just received a copy of The Cube. I had not seen it in about 30 years. It made a strong impact on me as a kid... probably because children see their reflection clearer without all the assumptions that now cloud our sight. We search for meaning and children just see it. I have written plays because of the impact of productions like this. There is a lot of value here. It is certainly dated, but in a comedic sort of way that seems intentional. One of my first thoughts on seeing it again is that Jim Henson created The Cube and then he spent the rest of his life doing The Muppets... beautiful. A great tribute would be a reproduction of The Cube using The Muppets... Kermit trapped inside with all of the others coming through the panels... if you listen closely to the dialogue... you can hear them all. Don't miss this one.

Essentially, the film reveals is that people use different ways and personas to protect themselves from being hurt. Max is obviously confrontational and aggressive. Francis is a clown. Each disarms those around them so that they don't get too close. You can look at a scarecrow in many ways, but the purpose is the same.... to keep the crows away. Max uses fear, Francis uses jokes. At the end of the movie, Francis' scarecrow doesn't work anymore when strong feelings break through surface. The dialog and acting in this film are first rate. Two of my favorite actors in break-out roles. Hackman as a sensitive guy... Pacino as a comedian... who would have thought?