Note: I got a free reviewers copy of this new documentary. Details at the end of the post.

Indoctrinate U website.

Many documentaries are biased, and that's ok as long as you recognize it and take it into consideration as you watch. Also, many "documentaries" these days are factually challenged. Michael Moore's work comes to mind. The man knows how to make a compelling feature, it's just that his personal agenda gets in the way so much that he has serious problems telling the whole truth. He picks and chooses facts to present things in a way that supports his viewpoint. A lot of people do that, but he is an extreme practitioner, although not the only prominent one. Al Gore, nuff said.

Indoctrinate U is biased as well, to the "conservative" side. It's a look at American college campuses and how liberal politics and groupthink are enforced by academia and students seeking to suppress opinions that don't match their own. And the great success they've had doing so.

Like any documentary that begins with a specific point of view, most of the footage that ends up in the final product is going to be supportive of that perspective. There were some silly moments shown where the director/interviewer and camera crew wandered several campuses, talking to faculty and staff while looking for the "Men's Study Center". These campuses each had a "Women's Study Center" and the law requires equal treatment.

There were also quite a few scenes where the staffs and faculty would stonewall or tell obvious lies to try to get them to leave. Quite often, the police would be called to escort the camera crew off campus.

But it was also clear from the number of on camera interviews (from both sides of the argument) that those colleges were the exception rather than the rule. I didn't keep count, but I'd guess that probably twenty universities were represented by the various professors in the interviews.

Topics covered affirmative action, speech codes, ROTC and military recruiting on campus, feminism, LBGT issues, diversity and more.

Like I said, I recognize the bias here, but still, I'd heard of most of the events specifically mentioned in the film. I've heard of the "affirmative action bake sales", where minorities are charged lower prices for cupcakes than whites as an illustration of the problems with racial preferences. I knew of the students threatened with expulsion because they violated someone's "right to not be offended" simply by hanging up a flier advertising an event featuring a conservative black speaker. There was so much more.

The point of this all was that college campuses, in general, no longer tolerate diversity of thought. You must think a certain way and believe certain things (or at least keep quiet if you don't). Going against the groupthink doesn't mean you disagree, it means that there is something wrong with you. Grades can suffer, harrassment and even threats may occur, often while the university looks the other way.

I have some personal experience with this, in that I've got two daughters who have directly dealt with this in college classes. I believe that it's real, but I'm biased, and I recognize that too.

Bottom line: Recommended for everyone. If you agree, it'll affirm your beliefs. If you don't, well, it's a good thing to hear someone with an opposing viewpoint once in a while.

*** The Indoctrinate U website offers you the chance to download a couple of different versions of the film. I chose the DVD version, which I would then burn to my own DVD. That was the plan anyway. (There's also a mp4 version for those who prefer it.)

A couple of tries later, I did a little research and found DownThemAll, a download manager plugin for Firefox. It's free and worked like a champ. When the download was interupted or hung up, I simply clicked the pause button for about a minute and then clicked resume, and the download would continue on its merry way. The download file is a little over 4GB, so do yourself a favor and get a download manager first thing.

Once you've got the file downloaded to your hard drive, you can burn the DVD. I used the package that came with my PC, called Nero. Once again, worked like a champ.

Through it all, I exchanged several emails with the support folks at the Indoctrinate U website, and they were quick to respond and genuinely helpful.

Good job guys!

Posted by: Ted at 11:35 AM | category: Cult Flicks
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So the other night I watched The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai, a recent Japanese "pink film". Here's the plot:

Sachiko is a promiscuous tutor (or maybe she's a hooker... unclear), who stumbles into the middle of a deal involving North Korean secret agents. She gets shot in the middle of the forehead, but instead of killing her it makes her hyper-intelligent, among other things. She winds up with the cloned finger of George Bush, which the Koreans want so they can use the fingerprint to launch nuclear weapons. Sometimes she can tell the future if she sticks the President's finger into the hole in her forehead. Oh, and she is still very, very promiscuous.

Recommended? Hell if I know. I'm still trying to decide if *I* liked it.

Posted by: Ted at 08:35 PM | category: Cult Flicks
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Liz and I were lying in bed, and I was telling her about Death Proof, the half of last year's movie Grindhouse directed by Tarantino and starring Kurt Russell.

Me: Kurt Russell's greatest role was Snake Pliskin.

Liz: What? No way!

Me: Name one better.

Liz: ...

Me: And you even knew who Snake Pliskin was.

Liz: What about...

Me: Don't even try Captain Ron.

I named six or seven off the top of my head, including Stuntman Mike, but none compared to Snake Pliskin.

Posted by: Ted at 11:39 AM | category: Cult Flicks
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Rachael and I raved so much about Synetic Theater's production of Poe's Fall of the House of Usher that one of her theater professors brought up a couple of vans full of students to see their latest show. They were kind enough to invite me to join them.

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Wordless. All music, dance and movement to tell the story, from the prologue to the final tragic ending. Abso-freakin'-lootly amazing. If you live in the DC metro area, do yourself a favor and check these people out. I think Mookie and I already have a date for May to see Carmen.

To recap:

Synetic Theater. Romeo and Juliet. Highly recommended.

Me. Two vans full of young college girls.

You. Envious because I don't even have to make this kind of stuff up.

Posted by: Ted at 11:31 PM | category: Cult Flicks
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It didn't play in theaters, which is awful, because this movie should be seen by everyone. It's fictional, but plausible. There's no monsters or gore or jump-scares, but it's one of the scariest movies I've seen in a long, long time.

Right At Your Door is the story of a couple in Los Angeles and their experiences after terrorists set off a string of "dirty" bombs downtown. He's inside their home, sealed in according to government instructions. She's outside, contaminated.

Frightening, agonizing, frustrating, infuriating, terrifying and thought provoking; it's all of these things, delivered via a size-12 kick right to your gut.

If you have Netflix, bump it to the top of your queue. If you rent, look for it at Blockbuster or your local shop.

Posted by: Ted at 05:17 AM | category: Cult Flicks
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We've been playing a game over on the Wildside Cinema forums where you list your favorite n movies. Like "top 10", etc.

You'd think that as the number got larger, it would get easier, but it doesn't. A lot of films that obviously aren't in your personal top 10 make it into your top 50, and it's a whole lot harder to narrow down that list. My first crack at my favorite top 50 had 90 movies on it, and there's no doubt that I've forgotten some.

Below are my "50 Favorite Movies".

Army of Darkness
Big Trouble in Little China
Black Pit of Doctor M
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Bubba Ho-Tep
Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death
Carrie
Dog Soldiers
Dracula (1931)
Escape from New York
Father Goose
Frankenstein (1931)
Galaxy Quest
Ginger Snaps
Goin' South
Halloween
Idle Hands
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
King Ralph
Major Payne
McLintock!
Metropolis
Monty Python's Life of Brian
My Favorite Year
Night of the Living Dead
Omnyoji
Pan's Labyrinth
Psycho
Rear Window
Saving Private Ryan
Secretary
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Shaun of the Dead
Shogun Assassin
Slap Shot
ST: The Wrath of Khan
The Beast
The Blues Brothers
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Descent
The Glenn Miller Story
The Incredibles
The Mummy (1932)
The Mummy (1999)
The Shawshank Redemption
Throne of Blood
Trading Places
Tremors
Whoops Apocolypse!
Zulu

It would have been nice if I could have put in things like "John Wayne's cavalry movies" or "Cary Grant movies" or "Directed by Alfred Hitchcock". I've reviewed many of these here on Rocket Jones and some over at Wildside Cinema.

Agree? Disagree? Leave comments. I'm stuck in bed sick this weekend. Amuse me or I'll start whining.

Posted by: Ted at 06:43 AM | category: Cult Flicks
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1 wow! I knew we had SOME crossover in the abnormal categories, but I didn't think it was that much.

Posted by: Mad William Flint at February 02, 2008 01:42 PM (PfRKW)

2 Which version of Night of the Living Dead?

Posted by: Victor at February 05, 2008 04:57 PM (yfGzI)

3 The original. I weep that you had to ask that. Just kidding, because the remake of Dawn of the Dead is almost as freakin' awesome as the original.

Posted by: Ted at February 05, 2008 08:50 PM (yRolC)

4 Well, I had to make sure--I remembered you really liked the remake. I just wanted to make sure you weren't delirious from fever. And next time you're weeping, get a picture, eh? I bet Derek would have a field day photoshopping that bad boy.

Posted by: Victor at February 06, 2008 05:33 AM (yfGzI)

5 I am surprised that you have Cannibal Woman but do not have Roller Blade Warriors Taken by Force: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098216/ You'd like that one, too.

Posted by: rp at February 14, 2008 01:33 PM (op1yW)

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